Petru Dumitriu Romanian diplomat, senior fellow of DiploFoundation, former ambassador of the Council of Europe to the United Nations Office at Geneva and member of the Joint Inspection Unit of the United Nations system
Artificial intelligence (AI) and the human condition First published on DiploFoundation Blog, 21 July Dr Jovan Kurbalija, conductor of the orchestra called DiploFoundation, proposed a project called HumAInism : Visionary governance for humanity with artificial intelligence. The main aim of the vision would be to find a way towards an outline of a ‘new social contract’. A wise initiative in the right place! The old social contract of Jean-Jacques Rousseau was born in Geneva, too. As a first spontaneous and amateurish reaction to this lofty initiative, I was wondering if a new social contract is the suitable means to address the impact of artificial intelligence. I believe that we should rather start by redefining the human condition besieged by artificiality. Why? Well, simply because by lifting artificial intelligence onto the pedestal of the future of humanity, as we do, we actually consent, with considerable enthusiasm and optimism, to delegate some of the specific functions of the human being to the more competent algorithms. If that is the case, we have to contemplate, inter alia, a number of possible implications. 1. The twilight of brainpower? This kind of prospective governance should reflect on the consequences of the use of artificial intelligence on our brainpower. I do not want to go through the famous checklist of ifs by Rudyard Kipling, but I can afford to ask myself, ‘shall I be a Man?’ if: I do not have to learn languages (because algorithms will translate and interpret for me in any circumstances); I do not need to know the multiplication table (which is already the case of some of the unanimously acclaimed millennials, virtuosi of the use of iPhones); I do not have to memorise anything (because my smartphone is there, smarter than I am); I do not need to orient myself in the space (believe me or not, I noticed someone using a GPS to find toilets in an airport); I do not have to choose my own bride (because the optimal, divorce-free choice, will be determined by a heartless, but more rational algorithm), etc., etc.! The list could continue, but as short as it is, I have reasons to believe that, at the invitation of artificial intelligence, my brainpower may take a long and underserved break, for many of its functions will be useless. My fingers will eventually be more practical than my brain.
39
