Living with AI: How Do We Stay Ourselves in Tomorrow’s World?
In an era where AI reshapes our world, exploring what it truly means to be human becomes more vital than ever.
In an era increasingly dominated by AI, reflecting on what it means to be human is crucial. We should embrace our idiosyncrasies as the essence of our uniqueness, not as flaws. That way, we can improve our lives without losing ourselves.
‘What makes us human?’ has regained prominence amidst the AI revolution. Computers can write texts, pretend to be great philosophers, do sums, and, yes, even draw.
So, well, what else are we humans capable of? What exactly makes us human? We have been working on this question since our ancestors were still fiddling with flints in dark caves.
Ironically, AI presents a paradox: its precision highlights our human distinctiveness, marked by emotions, creativity, and imperfection. Technology can be so precise and machine-like that it helps us understand how special we are as humans just because we are clumsy. But also emotional, bodily, and creative.
Contrasting our abilities with robots’, we appreciate our capacity for emotion, innovation, and savoring life’s simple pleasures. We see how good we are at feeling, inventing something new, or enjoying the little things that make life fun. That goes far beyond what can be expressed in numbers and data.
We’re now riding the third significant wave of AI, which began in 1956 with the Dartmouth workshop and saw a remount in the 1980s and 1990s. And now? Now, we have tools like ChatGPT shaking things up, just as the iPhone once did.
And that caused quite a furor in recent years: from a wow feeling about what can be done to solid nightmares about what, how, and where things can go wrong. And still others were stunned by how fast it all goes.
MAN, TECHNOLOGY AND NATURE
The future shaped by AI remains uncertain in this era of rapid AI evolution. In these times of technological madness, how we see ourselves — as humans — is essential. Ever since we started working with stone implements in prehistoric times, right up to the intelligent minds who invented penicillin, we have always thought of things to make our lives better and longer.
Thus, the interplay between humans, technology, and nature transcends philosophical musing on a drizzly day. No, it is also about who we are and what we do here on this beautiful green planet. It even deals with how we fit into the vast universe. Just look at space billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, who would love to blast us into space.
AI invites us to think about our position in the universe, which we already occupy here on Earth, with our feet firmly in the mud. It opens our eyes to proper integration with nature. This new perspective is advantageous, especially now, as it gives us tools to tackle complex problems such as climate change. After all, we are not disconnected from nature. It’s compelling to explore how AI might reinforce our bond with nature, particularly in addressing environmental challenges.
DON’T DOOM
This leads to a crucial problem: How will AI reshape our existence, and how shall we adapt? Will we be wiped out by it or, on the contrary, shoot ourselves to the stars towards some digital Valhalla?
There is a better time to be concerned with the short term, especially with all these tensions worldwide. Look at the US and China, and they are not just doing a game of arm wrestling over Taiwan. There, it’s all about the best microchips (too).
Those chips are desperately needed for the AI race. And when you start mixing all this with military hardware? Yes, that’s playing with fire. Still, it’s firmly watching our human wariness.
Therefore, while exercising caution, we must avoid pessimism. Our approach to AI should be marked by intelligence and humanity. How change happens and what our systems will look like will remain big questions. As long as we stay intelligent and humane in dealing with it, extraordinary things can happen.
Let’s keep it cool and mostly use AI to give us a hand instead of cutting ourselves in with it. Because just that is all too human.
