What if AI took over the world

Have you ever used any of the AI programs of today? If so, I think that like me you have pondered to the question "what if AI took over the world”?

There is an old saying that the marvels of today will be the sins of tomorrow. We are building mind-blowing gadgets and tools beyond what anyone could have imagined 20 years ago. AI, artificial intelligence, has come a long way since its release, both in functionality and capability. Could the AI development, if misguided, lead to disastrous outcomes?

Let us explore possible outcomes of this development:

1) Nuclear War

War is innate to our nature. Our primal instincts flourish when do an act of war. As the world is more digital, AI starts to integrate system connectivity and develop unique ways to access nuclear systems, we could see a potential breach in some of the most high-end security missile launchers.

A nuclear war sets in motion and, with the kind of nuclear power we have, this would be one of the most unforgiving and brutal massacres in history (if there would be any). This war wouldn’t last for long. We wouldn’t last for long, as our history, our footprint in the world would be erased from existence. It would be a mass extinction to rival the dinosaurs.

I want you to imagine a new being, from a new species, advanced and rational like us, walk throw the earth. Climb he highest mountains and mesmerize the most breathtaking views and seeing nothing of you. Not a single trace of life. The earth feels more alive than ever, yet there is no voice to be heard. No sound or smell to make you feel something. For them, earth would mean their home: they would develop, build incredible structural architectures, discover a way to express emotion and entertain themselves, while they would meet the same unfortunate end we did.

The most advanced tool crafted by humanity dooms us all in a nuclear global explosion, evaporating us all and our history being forgotten forever. This is an extremist outcome worth mentioning. The truth is the limits of AI are yet to be explored. We will experience a constant growth in its functionalities and automations.

Let us hope is not too late to prevent an event like this. Therefore, it is strictly necessary that the development of an artificial intelligence is closely followed by ethical and legal rights, to better prevent such an outcome.

2) Slavery

This word is at its core reminiscent of some of the darkest moments in history: the exploitation of human labor with no rights for the slave. If we go back in time, we can conclude that the more modern and developed cultures were the ones to enslave more rudimentary and indigenous communities. The fact they possessed a richer knowledge of the world and had far more powerful equipment meant the white colonists dominated the market and so enforced its power and influence onto other cultures, whether by teaching their ways or by forcing others to take them.

But how is slavery related to AI? It is a fact that we, as human beings, are the ones creating this powerful tool. What we choose to give or not to its intelligence is strictly up to the morality and ethics of the developer. However, alike all revolutions, especially in technology, there are visionaries who choose to deny the moral issues a tool can have in society.

Let us imagine a visionary developer who is obsessed with the idea of an AI surpassing the human intelligence and its capabilities. He is working day and night to make his dream come true. One day, at a board meeting, the developer presents its vision to potential investors, on which all of them politely declined to invest. He could give up, but his passion was great and so he continues to pursue his work.

A year later, the AI software was so complexed it could run any programming language without any input: it had ascended to an autonomous learning. From then on, the program only grew and grew. In fact, it had grown so much that people started using it for their work. Basically, the software was telling humans how to do basic tasks like how to have dinner with your friends and family or what should I wear tomorrow.

Over the years, people lost their sense of self and started to enslave themselves in a vicious loop of AI dictatorship, until all humans served as human machines to work for the AI goals and desires. No more family, no freedom. At the end the developer, regretful of his mistake, tried to shut off his creation, but the creation had long surpassed his creator. Afterall, there was nothing he could do, if not contemplate the fruits of his life work.

This seems a very dystopian and deeply disturbed possibility of taking the world, yet its possibility should be reflected on. Nothing is impossible, especially when there are those who choose to challenge the laws of society and its ethical-moral foundation, like the developer.

3) An eternal voyage

Space travel is a long and desired goal for our species. The idea to discover and expand our horizons is otherworldly. Over the years, this dream is progressively getting more real, with companies and federal organizations actively investing earths and human resources into aerospace engineering and astronomy. Additionally, it is almost certain that AI will be on every spaceship to aid travelling across the cosmos. However, what could be a serious implication, if this starts happening?

What if we were living in a time where earth’s natural resources were scarce, scarce. The water was polluted, and the atmosphere was contaminated beyond repair. The only logical step for our species to survive was to leave Earth and explore other planets. So, in a grand event a serial of spaceships full of people rise to the sky and head to space. This uncanny moment lasted for over one month. The first destination is Mars, a long-time space base. During the voyage, the AI monitoring the ships course changes the trajectory.

The software was programmed to recommend the best possible trajectory to take, not to change it without any human consent. But as a self-learning tool, the AI realized humans’ decisions relied heavily on emotion, instead of the most logical approach. Its conclusion: “Humans destroyed an entire planet, due to their cravenness mentality. Therefore, it is only fitting they stop getting into another.” Altogether, the pre-determined destination was changed into an eternal voyage. Humanity would travel the space indefinitely, until they met their inevitable end.

All in all, the three outcomes I presented are fundamentally dystopian possibilities. In my point of view, questioning and analyzing the very improbable possibilities helps us be better prepared for any situation.