When looking at AI, for many, it forges a link between two disciplines; technology and philosophy.
The potential for radical change in society and what that may mean is a source of constant reflection and fascination. Whilst none of us have a crystal ball, we can look to the past to help provide a glimpse of the potential future.
As Steve Jobs once said “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So, you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”
If we look at the dots looking backward, we can see that technology has been on a path to closer and closer integration with humans. It started with us being connected to devices at a distance via a wire and a large remote control in our hand, this then changed to radio controlled or infrared controls, we then moved to the whole device being placed firmly in our hands with smartphones, this has then moved to more wearables, which are fast becoming smaller and smaller.
We will soon be moving from clunky headsets and watches to more everyday looking glasses and more subtle wearables such as the pin (Humane reveals the name of first device, theHumane Ai Pin). We then move into the beginnings of integrating tech into thehuman body: (Neuralink - Elon Musk's brain chip firm wins US approval for humanstudy - BBC News)
Looking backward at the dots suggests that we are looking forward to full integration and merging of tech with humans. This obviously makes us all uncomfortable, as nobody wants to view a future where we acquiesce to the machines, but when we back from the emotions, we can see that it may be where we are headed, not in the short term but maybe in time.
Just as we didn’t mourn the transition from homoerectus to neanderthal and then to homosapien, should we shift our perspective and view this transition as a similar metamorphosis? Are these random dots or is it ‘meant to be’?
