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We’re No Angels — But We’re Pretty Good

Mar 10, 2017
by Caroline Miller
Homo Deus, how perfectible are humans?, Olivia Solon, The God Complex, Will perfect robots make humans obsolete?, Yuvai Harari
2 Comments

I am wary that nerds are swallowing too many algorithms when I read interviews like the one recently published in Wired.  (“The God Complex,” by Olivia Solon, Wired, March 2017, pgs. 18-19.)  Yuval Harari has written a new book, Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, in which he predicts robots with artificial intelligence (AI)  will become so perfect humans, at best, will be redundant or at worst, obsolete.

According to Harari, what held a society together in the past were moral precepts, usually provided by religion.  Today, he insists, data shapes our destiny.  Data helps us decide “who (sic) to date, where to live, how to deal with economic problems.” (Ibid pg. 19.)  As people plug into these systems, their lives are shaped by the corporations that control the data.  Opting out isn’t a choice. Try getting health care, he points out, without entering the data base.

Courtesy of google.com

Harari’s vision of the near future may worry some people. But humans are resilient.  So far, we have adapted to the changes our inventions have brought about. We will do the same in the Dataist Age.  While algorithms and artificial intelligence may offer new standards of perfection, if history is proof, we humans will continue to model our societies upon ourselves not upon our creations.  Recent studies prove my point  After examining the nature of corruption, scientists concluded the more corrupt a country’s leaders become, the more corrupt the population. (“National Corruption Breeds Personal Dishonesty,” by Simon Makin, Scientific American Mind, March/April 2017, pg. 15.)  Citizens model themselves by example.   

But our story doesn’t end there.  Scientists have also learned we humans have a psychological incentive to view ourselves as honest.  Because of it,  a floor on bad behavior also exists.  No matter how corrupt a leader is, most of his or her followers will refuse to drop below a certain level.  (Ibid pg. 15)   That finding leads Jonathan Schultz of Yale University to conclude, “All around the world, people are quite honest.” (Ibid pg. 15.)

Intelligent robots may reach a standard of perfection in the future, but given our history, I doubt Homo sapiens will disappear because of it. Perfection, after all, has its flaw.  It admits no change.  And while intelligent robots may come to know us better than we know ourselves, they may be incapable of altering with the times. Wanting to do better is a human incentive, not an algorithm.  That drive will keep us from becoming obsolete.

 

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2 Comments
  1. Maggi White March 10, 2017 at 9:25 am Reply
    I could argue this point, Caroline. Why do so many people need some form of drug to get through the day, if our way of life is good for us? Why genocide, etc.? My view is the further we get from nature, the more we will be in danger of evil doings, like robot wars in which we feel no guilt, see no blood and guts.
    • Caroline Miller March 10, 2017 at 10:51 am Reply
      You make an excellent point. No guarantees about the future, although I'm not sure nature's rule of survival of the fittest isn't what's baked in our genes and part of societal problems.

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Contact Caroline at

carolinemiller11@yahoo.com

Portland, Oregon author Caroline Miller had distinguished careers as an educator, union president, elected official and artist/advocate.

Her play, Woman on the Scarlet Beast, was performed at the Post5 Theatre, Portland, OR, January/February 2015

Caroline published a serialized novelette, Marie Eau-Claire, on the website, The Colored Lens.  She also published the story Gustav Pavel,  a parable about ordinary lives, choice and alternate potential, on the website Fixional.co.

Caroline has published four novels

  • Ballet Noir
  • Trompe l’Oeil
  • Gothic Spring
  • Heart Land

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