Over a century ago, GK Chesterton observed that the greatest mistake of civilisation is that we try to adapt human beings to suit the needs of systems, instead of vice versa. Our world today is becoming massively systematised through a series of more sophisticated algorithmic systems. Machine learning has given us a world where anything can be discerned and anything can be counterfeited. Tiny crumbs of information can embed a signature that no amount of effort may remove. Simply put, there is nowhere to hide anything, nothing can be believed, and no one can be trusted. Due to their complexity and opacity, such systems are often emancipated from proper human agency and oversight. A civilisation built upon such systems will recreate the mistakes of the past at greater speed and scale, unless we take careful, deliberate action to prevent individuals and societies from becoming systematised in unhealthy ways. Will our future civilisation improve the human condition, or increase human suffering for the betterment of a plutocratic elite? Whether these technologies are applied by coercion or by consent will decide our future: Tyrannical injustice for the human spirit, or its liberation.
Magnanimous machines: Why AI work should work for people and not the other way around (Neil Watson, ORF)
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