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Artificial intelligence has taken Gen Z off the villain’s list, and for that, they must be eternally grateful.
One can understand Boomers like me carping about it. Many of us are already struggling with computers, the Internet, and other technological monstrosities. It’s worth reflecting on why a technologically unchallenged millennial might still feel uneasy, much like an old great-grandmother crossing a busy street.
Gutenberg’s printing machine was violently opposed by rulers and the Church as being dangerous for democratising knowledge. Luddites destroyed textile machines as they feared they would destroy their jobs. Others in later ages resisted transistors, TV, computers, and the Internet—classic cases of what psychology would term neophobia. This fear of technology is nothing new. The belief that nothing new is good and everything was better in the golden years of yore is a common refrain during times of change.
Were they really golden years? People have destroyed each other in multiple imaginative ways since Homo Sapiens evolved—not for survival, but for wealth and power arising from ego. People gained and lost livelihoods as skill needs evolved and changed. Taking a hammer to machinery didn’t work before, and will not work with robots and chatbots now.
The Psychology of Fear and AI
Though ignorant of psychological and neurological sciences, I am not afraid to venture where they fear to tread.
Why do people believe in the olden golden days when life was equally, if not more, difficult—just differently so? Why do people fear change? Is it built into human intelligence as a survival response, even if it isn’t truly a threat? Is neophobia another manifestation of xenophobia and “Make My Country Great” at the cost of others?
Have our brains regressed to the point that we are unable to differentiate between an existential threat and an ego-based one? The findings of the MIT studies on the chatbot effect on human intelligence are just as valid as the effect of calculators on memorised mathematical skill, the effect of computers on handwriting skills, and the effect of machines replacing dangerous work. In what way have these societal shifts negatively affected our lives?
Why is every technological or societal behavioural shift seen as an existential danger?
Perhaps workplaces will even become far safer psychologically, in an Amy Edmondson template, with robots and chatbots creating less judgment and ego, and allowing greater space for humans to be innovative and creative.
The Future of Technology and AI
The true, not merely assumed, fears appear to be the insecurity of unemployment and machines taking us over.
On the first, humanity has adapted so far by reskilling itself to eventual stability. Yes, there would be threats and losses for those who don’t adapt, and this would be true of many other non-technological changes arising from political, religious, societal, and natural shifts. Darwin’s Theory applies to the future of work as well.
As to machines ruling the world—what kind of world are we living in now? The majority live under one form of dystopian dictatorship or another, some in pretended forms of electoral choice, others without even that. People lack true freedom. Fear and greed rule us, gradually leading us to ruin.
Would this be worse if algorithms and automation had more control? These systems are non-judgmental. Some question this since humans created them, embedding collective bias—which then begs the question: can it be any worse? Machines are generative, already moving beyond human logic and control. We see that as dangerous. Yet are sociopathic, psychopathic, murderous leaders less dangerous for our destiny?
Climate change was not created by technology. Nuclear WMDs were not created by it. Drugs were not invented by it. We did all this brilliantly with our so-called superior intelligence. Have our choices been any better than what we now fear from machines?
Reflective Action, Reflaction
Punching holes in my assumptions and conclusions is not difficult. I can debate the opposite. The point at issue is not technology. It’s human intelligence. How do we enhance our intelligence spiritually? If we don’t, perhaps machines may end up doing a better job with our survival and safety than we are.
Spiritual intelligence means recognising that by destroying one another, we destroy ourselves. There will be no victors, only corpses. I once read this haunting phrase: presence of absence. Whatever remains will be the absence of the living, even without artificial intelligence, if humans continue without spiritual growth.
(Originally published on Coaching the Spirit – a LinkedIn Newsletter by Ram S. Ramanathan: The Tragi-Comedy of Human Intelligence. Views expressed are personal.)
