Is the end of the world coming?

Since 2001, I've felt like I've been living in the end times. Back then, I believed (based on what was reported in the media) that the IT industry was the only growing sector and that only the very best would survive.

Now, it's actually likely that this will be the case, because employees of average intelligence in knowledge-based professions will be easily replaceable by AI systems. Only a select few top performers will still be needed.

The worst effects of artificial intelligence - such as the threat of mass unemployment - might perhaps be averted if politicians who act in the interests of the people, rather than simply lining their own pockets, were finally to come to power in countries around the world.

However, I haven't yet found a solution for robots that can update their own programming via the cloud and might even be programmed to rebel against their owners, as suggested in the YouTube video "Ray Kurzweil's 'Physical Singularity': The 2029 Warning" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeH-DovZ5CA).

As for whether we can slow down or reverse the development of artificial intelligence given the risks it poses, I believe that technology thrives on innovation. If technology companies fail to implement new ideas, they lose their competitive edge. Clearly, in the historical development of technology, the time had simply come to invest in the refinement of artificial intelligence.

In 2001, I saw the IT industry and biotechnology as the two industries of the future, which is why I chose my combination of majors (medicine, medical informatics, and computational intelligence). It seems that developments in the IT industry are progressing much more rapidly; in biotechnology, much of what has already been conceived remains a utopian vision.

However, it is possible that experiences with artificial intelligence will lead to changes in the law and that biotechnology will be given priority in the future.

Other thinkers have also entertained the idea that we may be living in the end times. For example, an American university professor claimed some time ago that our world is a simulation whose goal is to create a superintelligence and that it will soon be shut down.

However, I do not share this view. The creation of a superintelligence is only one of the goals of transhumanism. Another long-term goal is the enhancement of the human species - for example, through gene editing - and the attainment of infinite lifespan. This requires advances in the biological sciences, and human intelligence will likely still play a role in that process.

Bottom line: It's not over yet, but things are going to get tougher for people of average intelligence.

Claus D. Volko 

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