The age of artificial intelligence: are we ready?
A plea for European values and innovation
To all those who think the current hype about artificial intelligence is “just a phase”: Arte has once again gotten to the heart of the matter with its documentary. You can find the YouTube video at the bottom of the article.
Content
Our world is changing drastically right now. In fact, I would say it is changing like never before. I am sure we will remember the time “before” artificial intelligence for a long time to come. Anyone who says otherwise hasn’t really looked or understood what it’s all about.
OpenAI’s applications have inspired millions in 2023 — but have also received harsh criticism. Following Microsoft’s integration and Google’s declaration of war, all the other giants such as Meta, Apple and Amazon are also working at full speed in this area and have been using innovative, intelligent solutions for years. The economic benefits of these systems are immense, which is why these private companies are investing so heavily in them.
Even in the area of language models such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini (formerly Bard), superhuman capabilities have already been achieved — meaning that these systems have an error rate of less than approx. 7%. That’s a better result than the smartest among us ever CAN achieve.
In January 2023, this video of Will Smith eating spaghetti was the best video an AI could create. Apparently it was not very disturbing. You can watch the whole video here:
As expected, a mix of shitstorms, memes and comments followed — all critical of the capabilities and advances of AI. It went viral, but still seemed to have a long way to go before it would deliver practical results.
A single year later, in February 2024, OpenAI presented Sora to the public. This is the new benchmark. ONE YEAR LATER. Here is the official video:
OpenAI has also announced plans to expand its presence in the entertainment industry and win over Hollywood.
Perhaps it is still a little too early — this technology is not quite ready for the market yet. But it can be assumed that it will soon be available to many. And soon means today; probably in a year’s time?
A current, groundbreaking example from Musk is Neuralink:
In the fall of 2023, paraplegic Noland Arbaug (Twitter / X: @ModdedQuad) became the first person to have a Neuralink chip implanted in his brain. According to his statements, he was able to use the aid almost immediately after the device was activated.
Unbelievable but very true: he is the first real cyborg, so to speak.
He explains that this technology has helped him regain his will to live. He almost bursts into tears because it makes him independent and how he can socialize or play video games again. It gives him a perspective and the opportunity to reintegrate into society.
Once again, the potential applications of these tools are enormous. As far as we know, there has never been such a profound paradigm shift in our history.
Here is his public appearance on March 22, 2024:
I’ll say it again loud and clear: the use and distribution of artificial intelligence became mainstream just under a year ago — by 2024 at the latest, every person and every company with Internet access will be able to use AI for themselves.
Today, developers and researchers around the world are working on networking all possible properties and capabilities in the field of artificial intelligence;
Text, speech, video, images, animations — Robotics, medicine, information procurement — Distribution channels, service chains, food procurement, performance optimization — Resource savings, climate goals, general education and knowledge transfer — Marketing, journalism, media attention — Infrastructure, planning, engineering, physics…
… and the list goes on and on.
We are dealing here with an innovation that will completely change all areas of our world in the long term, without exception.
In our networked world with billions of people, this is actually very convenient — we have major hurdles and hardly any overview or the capacity to cope with all the challenges. The vast majority of countries and states are simply too slow. Politics and bureaucracy are too slow.
Many large companies and countries started researching AI a long time ago and have been using it for years to optimize their performance.
Leading the way in technology, as always: China. And miles ahead, while Europe, on the other hand, finds itself in a very divided position — in many respects.
The way I see it at the moment, there are possibly two scenarios for us:
We’ll all carry on merrily as we did with the last digital revolution. We just let it happen to us. “We can’t change it anyway” and understand too little to be able to influence it.
I am sure that the way our economic world works, sooner or later some external, relatively uncontrolled provider will conquer our market. And thus have a huge influence on consumers: You and me. And thus our lifestyle. Just as there are scammers and phishing today, this technology will not only be used for good. That is guaranteed.
Where this leads — especially in precarious times of crisis — remains to be seen.
We (Switzerland / EU) take our responsibility seriously and stand up for our culture, history, tradition, friends and family. We set rules. *🇪🇺pat on the back* 🇨🇭👀
However, the implementation is much more important and difficult: we must actively promote the education, research, further development and scaling of AI and invest MASSIVELY in the projects, companies and start-ups that can keep up with the big players. We need to develop practicable, transparent solutions as quickly as possible to ensure the safe handling of this innovation.
We could use AI not only to become more efficient, but also to meet people’s all-encompassing basic needs and initiate medical revolutions. This would massively reduce the burden on our society — but it needs to be regulated, because it will also replace a large part of the workforce.
In the example of the last scenario, it would be incredibly important to ensure that a large part of the savings benefit the citizens, for example in the form of an unconditional basic income or education. The whole thing would mean a complete restructuring, because in the long term many people would not find work. This poverty must be prevented and counteracted with innovation before it is too late and the gross domestic product reaches its lowest point.
The issue of security could potentially become Europe’s unique selling point. It would fit in perfectly with our mindset of a functioning democracy and would position Europe very strongly economically, as privacy and security are also of interest to many large companies, investors and investors. In my opinion, Europe could really do with this.
Along with this topic, we need to maximize local computing power so that we become completely independent of external providers. We need to produce tons of powerful graphics cards ourselves at best and distribute huge local data centers all over Europe.
This is not about “wanting”. For this to work, all countries involved would have to pull together without exception and adhere to the same rules. In times of artificial intelligence, the smallest security gap would be devastating and would render all investments null and void when it comes down to it.
Unfortunately, scaling in Europe is not exactly a hit at the moment, especially when you compare it with investments in the USA or China. But it is getting better.
Arte described it beautifully:They explain that this innovation is more like a new species that will accompany us everywhere from now on. In the future, it will not only work with us, but also present and implement solutions itself. It can act many times faster and could even help us to exceed our goals. It will inspire research and probably find exponentially better solutions and make discoveries that would have been almost impossible for us humans alone. And in every way and form. Physically as robots and assistants or in the form of a digital infrastructure.
The bottom line is how we deal with this new technology, or “species”.
Thinking things away does not work.
Just as is the case with any other criminal behavior, we need crystal-clear rules, controls and consequences. It’s not just about our safety. It’s about preserving our culture and setting the safe framework without obstructing our path.
… and it’s not stopping there. The revolution of integrating artificial intelligence into our society is in full swing. Doing nothing also means placing our fate in the hands of others. Going along with it, catching it.
⏰ So the clock is ticking. Even if we don’t make it at this rate and “let it come to us”, we have to be up to the challenge by then. And before it divides our society further. So as quickly as (humanly) possible.
… for yet another informative and timely documentary. It is incredibly important that we engage in dialog and educate each other.
I know how dramatic that sounds. But if the pace continues as before, the digital revolution since the 80s has been a breath of fresh air compared to what we are facing in the next 30 years.
At this point: Let’s hope it’s a good one.
Did you like this post? Let me know if you did! Leave a comment at 👏🏻
Do you share this view? Or do you have a completely different opinion?
I would be very happy to read about it!💬
Hope to see you soon!
~ greg
Here is the video from Arte that inspired me to share my perspective:
I will never send more than one email per month, I promise!
