What AI Tells Us about Human Reality
Think about the thrill when cars first hit the roads, changing everything. Now, today, AI tools like ChatGPT are making waves again. While these technologies offer huge benefits, they also bring new problems and ethical questions we must tackle.
Imagine the time when the first car was invented in the late 19th century. People back then must have thought cars would save a ton of time, and they'd be right. Now, think about all the electronic gadgets we have in our homes today. We don't even have to look far to see how much things have changed. I'm not sure how visual design was done three to four decades ago, but still I can confidently say, there has been a paradigm shift—and that it's become a lot more effective, faster, and more aesthetically pleasing thanks to computers, software programs, and all sorts of digital and web solutions. For a teeny-weeny context, illustrators used to draw billboard-sized film posters manually untill the late 1990w.
However, have all these advancements really made our lives easier? Have they cut down the time and effort we put into tasks as we thought they would? Sadly, the answer to both these questions is simply in the negative.
We have reached another juncture today: we are standing at one of the turning points of this era with the recent development of artificial intelligence and its ilk. It all started in November 2022 when OpenAI unveil ChatGPT, the latest technology in the Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) family. OpenAI described it as a model that interacts in a conversational way, allowing it to answer follow-up questions, admit mistakes, challenge incorrect premises, and reject inappropriate requests.
Just a few months after ChatGPT was released, tech giant Google also introduced its own AI chatbot called Bard (Blender-based Architecture Dialogue). At the same time, Chinese multinational Baidu launched the Ernie Bot. AI development has been the hottest topic this year, but it didn't just appear out of nowhere. At least for some of these super-popular AI tools, it's been a work in progress for the last five to six years.
Work, Labour and All Things Humans
When it comes to work and human ingenuity, people worldwide agree that AI has its limitations. Only humans can make rational and informed decisions, which are in turn necessary for AI to function effectively. AI tools have been around for a long time, and we can attribute the meteoric rise of the technology to the English mathematician and computer scientist Alan Turing and his theory of computation that he formulated during the mid-20th century. The brilliant 2014-period thriller, The Imitation Game, which was also the top-grossing independent films of that year, is based on his life in general and his time at a British government cryptological establishment during World War II.
For a long time, AI has been raising many ethical and legal issues, as well as questions about sentience and whether machines can think, just as Turing speculated. We’ll discuss these issues another day, but for now, let’s focus on the role of conversational chatbots in our ever-evolving lives.
To draw a comparison, German philosopher Karl Marx redefined the meanings of work and workers in the 19th century. Since then, many people have extensively studied labour, class struggle, false consciousness, and other related topics. Ignoring machines for a moment, we've come a long way, but the standard of living has only increased slightly while many of the issues Marx highlighted still exist. Author and researcher Natasa Milojevic put it succinctly: "In their battle to come to terms with the arrow of time, people have discovered different means to tame their enemy. They invented the clock, the calendar, and spent countless hours trying to figure out the concept of time."
Once upon a time in the wake of the Industrial Revolution in Europe, it was common for people, including children, to work 10 to 16 hours a day. We've come a long way since then. One of the founders of utopian socialism, Robert Owen, proposed the idea of "eight hours labor, eight hours recreation, eight hours rest" in the 19th century. Working conditions have improved significantly since then, but we still work as much as we used to, thanks to multinational corporations and other big businesses. In one organisation I worked for a decade ago, we had 10-hour shifts due to a one-hour lunch break and a two-day weekend. This is the reality of ordinary greedy capitalists in their constant pursuit of profit. Despite scientific advancements and breakthroughs, life remains "solitary, poor, nasty, and brutish," though it’s longer now. This is where AI comes into the picture.
Technology as an Extension of a Human Body
Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan said in the 1960s that technology is an extension of the human body, which couldn’t be truer for AI. Sci-fi movies and skepticism about human intelligence have sparked many debates about AI’s existence, especially the fear of machines becoming sentient and superior. Besides ethical issues, one major concern is the risk of job redundancy for many knowledge workers. Yet, it's become essential to use this technology.
Digital technology might have made many professions obsolete, but it's also created new opportunities, from automation to outsourcing. Two factors that define modern society are consumption and the ever-increasing purchasing power. That’s how human existence has always been and will continue to be, unless an unknown rock hits the Earth, and we all perish. For example, social media didn’t exist three decades ago. According to Statista, the number of people employed in the digital media sector in India was just 8.1 thousand in 2013, and it's estimated to reach around 97.7 thousand by 2023. Human societies are highly organic, constantly growing and developing just like we do personally.
I worked in the media industry then came into academia—two areas in which people are apprehensive that many of the jobs will become redundant all thanks to AI. But that's just a prediction! I'm also into visual communication and the technological revolution is but stopping us in our tracks with the onslaught of the so-called AI-generated outlandish images. It’s doubtful that AI will fully automate our jobs for several reasons. First, AI cannot think for itself. Second, many job roles rely heavily on human discretion, like traditional classroom teaching with lectures and discussions. This will hold true no matter how "conversational" AI like ChatGPT becomes. Third, while smartphones and the Internet have drawn us into virtual reality, there's still a space where bots and machines cannot simply pull through: the physical-slash-material reality, not to mention the spiritual realm.
Only a sci-fi fan would argue otherwise. We're not mechanical beings for a reason. On a side note, the only time I give in is when a robot asks me to click the "I’m Not a Robot" checkbox on certain websites. The irony—a robot asking me if I’m not a robot?! That’s fine, but what's concerning is how it helps lazy students with their writing assignments just as we have been witnessing in ways that we have never imagined before.
When people started making films in the last century, it was predicted that books would become obsolete. Look at us now. According to Publishing Perspectives, Nielsen BookData, and the Federation of Indian Publishers, the Indian print market is expected to reach nearly $12 billion by the end of 2024. The market was valued at $8.8 billion in 2019–2020.
Back to where we started, when cars became popular, people could only imagine the convenience and efficiency never seen before in human history. Now, I can fly 3,500 km to my hometown in just four hours. A hundred years ago, it would have taken half a month by surface transport. This doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll soon find the reason for our existence. The rise of AI chatbots and tools is a classic example of disruptive technology. Just like humans, technology must evolve to stay relevant.
Technology continues to advance rapidly, and while it's creating new opportunities, it's also posing challenges we need to address. We've seen how the internet and digital technologies have revolutionized industries, and AI is set to do the same. However, we must approach this evolution with caution and awareness. We need to balance the benefits of AI with the potential risks and ethical considerations. The future of work and society will be shaped by how we integrate these technologies into our lives. By staying informed and adaptable, we can ensure that AI and other advancements enhance our lives rather than complicate them.
Last Words
In a nutshell, the journey from the invention of cars to the rise of AI has been marked by significant advancements that have transformed our lives. While technology has undoubtedly made many tasks easier and created new opportunities, it has also brought about new challenges and ethical dilemmas. As we continue to navigate this ever-evolving landscape, it is crucial to remain vigilant and proactive in addressing the impacts of these technologies on our lives and society. The future will depend on our ability to harness the power of technology in humane and informed manners.
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| I ordered ChatGPT to respond to a query and this is what I have received |
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