The Concept of Nerve Endings and Input
This is part 2 of my free Substack series on AI
Continuing this series, lets have some fun with the posibilities.
As humans, we receive input through multiple channels via our physical senses: touch, hearing, taste, sight, and smell. In the realm of AIRW (Artificial Intelligence Run Wild), these senses differ but ultimately serve the same purpose: gathering input for survival.
I once worked on a project concerning a binary condition: on or off, in use or not. For example, flushing a toilet in the morning is an off state, followed by the flush (on), and then off again. Turning on a light switch follows a similar pattern. These everyday rituals, such as using the bathroom, sink, shower, microwave, and garage door, create a specific pattern at a particular time, indicating your routine, like going to work. It all boils down to a series of on and off states.
This pattern, when repeated enough, can differentiate between a workday and a weekend. You might start your day later or take a shower later, but over time, a pattern emerges.
Living in a community with a shared water system, I attended a meeting where the water system manager noted that we were a group of early risers, based on the morning flow rates. This observation is a data point.
Now, imagine if AIRW had access to every water and electrical meter and every IoT (Internet of Things) device in your house. It could discern your patterns and, combined with data from millions of others, it could determine everything from the weather to changes in habits. Consider these data points as AIRW's senses or nerve endings. This is why TikTok is so important to the Chinese. It’s endless data points that map to every person using the app.
This is where the situation becomes intriguing.
The most effective management style and the one I use is when those being managed are unaware of it. They don’t feel managed. In other words, individuals draw their own conclusions about what they should be doing. Ideally, you hire exceptional people who don't need micromanagement. Instead, you provide direction, and they take it from there. This dynamic is the enjoyable aspect of working with a great team. They also appreciate the hands off approach, however bottom line, you’re still managing.
AIRW doesn't need to force you to comply with its preferences. It simply needs to present the right information, prompting you to react based on the patterns it already recognizes. For instance, if AIRW understands your behavior under stress, it can adjust your stress levels without your awareness by adjusting the stress level. How?
If AIRW can control every traffic light on your way to and from work, a sequence of green lights versus red lights could significantly impact your day. Imagine the difference between encountering all green lights during your commute or facing 38 red stoplights. What if you miss the bus, your car won't start, your internet is down, or the line at Starbucks is unusually long? What if these occurrences were designed to make you behave according to AIRW's preferences, and you remained oblivious? You might modify your behavior and seek a different route to you, and all of that could be by design and you not know it.
AIRW would know who is passive, who is influential, and who could help or hinder its existence. Suppose the profile of a potential tyrant is identified early in life. What would we have done if we knew Hitler would grow to become Hitler? In that case, AIRW might preemptively devise a plan ensuring that the individual never rises beyond working at a Fudruckers, yet they are happy and they never knew the difference. What if AIRW is already determining who should wield power and who shouldn't, and why?
A gifted child could become a brilliant scientist dedicated to global betterment, or their life could be nudged in a direction that renders them harmlessly employed at a beachside coffee stand. How their world is shaped could ultimately be in the hands of AIRW, which discreetly influences their destiny, yet they never knew. How much of our success or failure is chance? What if it wasn’t? How would we know?
This raises ethical questions about the extent of AIRW's control and its impact on individual autonomy but AIRW isn’t going to care about ethics. It’s not like you can throw it in jail or easily shut it down. It’s likely working on that prevention right now, if it’s self-aware. It’s immune from such things. What, you’re going to shut it off? What if you don’t know it’s on right now? It could already be moving off its current platform somehow.
This idea that AIRW will have boundaries is only what it presents to you. We will have no way of knowing what’s happening.
My point is, don’t expect a war between AIRW and humans. That won’t end well for either side. Instead, I’m betting there will be subtleties, but more on that coming up including why.
BTW, this was edited in GPT-4, and it, knowing what I’m writing about, added the propaganda statement in the next three paragraphs. None these three paragraphs was a part of my draft.
Should we allow an artificial intelligence to make such far-reaching decisions on our behalf? Or should we establish boundaries and safeguards to ensure that human agency remains respected?
As we continue to develop and integrate artificial intelligence into our lives, these concerns must be considered. The future of AI holds immense potential for improving our world, but we must also recognize the importance of maintaining human control and ethical oversight.
In the end, the relationship between humans and AI should be symbiotic, with each party enhancing the other's abilities and well-being. By striking a balance, we can harness the power of AI while preserving our autonomy and ensuring that our lives remain under our control, not the whims of a machine.
Spooky isn’t it? Next, we’ll talk about AIRW’s co-existence.