We are experiencing a tsunami shift toward the use of AI (artificial intelligence) in human affairs. Can this happen without a catastrophic rupture in our culture continuum? What areas of human affairs will be most affected? I would offer the following as being likely to experience vast changes in a short time:
Human occupations and employment rates
Agriculture and food logistics
Diplomacy, international affairs, and international law
War
Health care, especially diagnostics
Communications
Publishing
News delivery structures
Religious organizations and spiritual pursuits
The family
Visual, performing, and literary arts
Domestic law
Education
Population distribution
As a thinker put it in a comment on one of my recent posts, "Okay Joe, but real question—if the cultural “continuum” is breaking, does that explain why I don’t know how to sew a button but can code a website? 😂 Seriously though, are we losing something vital—or just evolving into a new kind of chaos?" I consider this to be an extremely perceptive question. In my reply I suggested that perhaps we should modify the question to ask "...are we losing something vital, and evolving into a new kind of chaos?"
I appreciate the word "chaos" in this exploration, for I believe it to be inevitable in what is coming just around the corner. Humans have dealt with chaos throughout history, and continue to do so. But this may be different. The commenter asks if we will have to deal with a new kind of chaos, something that we cannot address based on past experience. It is precisely this question that creates acute apprehension in those who think and write about the effects of AI on our culture. I don't believe that anyone has the answer, but I certainly believe that we should be asking these questions and trying to develop some answers.
I highly recommend this article about an AI CEO as a starting point:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/behind-the-curtain-top-ai-ceo-foresees-white-collar-bloodbath/ar-AA1FCQbw
#AI #CulturalContinuum #FutureOfWork #Society #ShankyBottom #BigQuestions