Progress?

To say that we love progress might be an understatement.

But not everyone loves it because of the disruptions it causes to the existing structures.

What happened to horses and horse drawn carriages on the advent of cars? What happened to the vinyl record infrastructure when the cassette tape arrived? What happened to the cassette tape when the CD arrived? And what happened to the CD when music was condensed into small MP3 files that could fit thousands of songs in a phone? What happened to the AM and SW broadcasting infrastructure when FM gained ascendence? What happened to the film camera infrastructure when the digital camera arrived? And what will happen to the internal combustion engine infrastructure if electric vehicles completely take over as is being pushed?

Successful and thriving businesses become bankrupt overnight.

But many times, that progress may also bring some very negative social implications.

I remember reading about the ‘devastation’ making the car a closed cabin caused to morals.

Look at the cellular phone for instance.

Though it appears to have broken much ground in accessibility; though it has opened grounds for unfettered access; though it has made shopping and banking easy; though it has made the pursuit of knowledge easy and affordable, it has one the same vein introduced some clear dangers to social and filial structures.

People who can have conversations with others across the globe are unable to have any meaningful conversation at the dinner table.

People who can access money easily have become unable to plan though their gadgets have all the tools for the same.

People who can spot a lie on the other side of the globe are unable to accurately express themselves because they want to be seen ‘properly’.

People have become false, even to themselves, meaning that community has died as we have all become actors at the game of life.

But this is not the message I am sharing. This is just a wakeup message.

Because God knew about this when He was creating the world. Meaning that the Gospel addresses that aspect of our lives and communities as well.

But allow me to delve into the new thing; Artificial Intelligence, or AI.

And you will allow me to look at just one aspect to get my point across.

In the past, clever characters were able to ‘hack’ into betting platforms and obtain win after win before the gamers realised that they had become the game. And that was before computers, leave alone internet.

Someone would take their time to understand the numbers, programs, procedures to be able to accurately predict the winning tickets and where they could be bought.

And since betting is a science, they would be able to hit the jackpot again and again because they were ready and willing their brains toward that end.

You see, algorithms did not start with the digital age as many think.

These characters would almost fleece the gamers since they would always win big as they would get the jackpot and several other big ‘consolation’ prizes.

Now imagine with me that a few gamblers go the AI way with their predictions. And we know that gamblers will stop at nothing to win.

Which algorithm will win since we are pitting AI against AI?

Who will clean up the mess?

Internet and social media have killed community for the larger part

AI could kill humanity for all it is worth.

You see, social media has taught us to create a front that our community will love.

AI will stop us from thinking. It will stop us from problem solving because it will be doing it for us.

Now imagine what that will do to an already fractured community!

I might be looking like an alarmist, and I hope I am.

But as always, I seek to operate outside boxes. And I also want people to think beyond what they can see.

But probably I am not talking about you.

If so, forget everything I have said.

There are several cases all over the world filed against social media and the actual damage it has caused, especially to children and youth, from suicide to bulimia to depression to gambling.

At the back of those cases is the compulsive nature of social media and its use of artificial intelligence.

Go to any social media site and in a short time it is able to accurately guide you to everything you want, from videos to comedy to scientific studies to politics.

It becomes difficult, and for a young person, impossible, to stop scrolling since only what you love is popping up, the kinds of friends you fancy are shown, all your interests are given prominence.

I heard that one young person scrolled non-stop for over sixteen hours.

She is accusing the social media owners because she was then underage.

And that is just one aspect of that progress.

Think of her relationships with parents and siblings.

Think of her studies.

Even without AI, social media was addictive for all the new things it presented.

With AI, it becomes compulsively and addictively so.

But it gets worse.

AI shows you not only what you want to see, it will ultimately even shape what you think you want to see.

In short, it will start guiding your thinking, your problem solving, your feelings and your decisions.

And that is dangerous, even wrong.

That because God always holds us accountable for our choices and decisions.

Like a musician recently said in response to AI composing Gospel songs, AI cannot be spirit filled, meaning that it has no capacity for responding to God at any time.

Imagining that is like imagining a car (even AI programmed) will know where I am going and take me there without any prompting from me. And it is even worse when we associate it with God.

Algorithms are an amalgamation of all the information the system receives that it uses to guide its output.

But you are not the conclusion of a debate and voting process.

You are a person created uniquely by God with a particular assignment on your head.

AI looks for the common ground for all the input it receives.

But there is something even more sinister.

A media house has an editorial policy guided by its owner.

That is what decides what stories to cover, which issues to give prominence, etc.

Sadly, it is only in political campaigns that this aspect of the media is clearly seen. And people assume that that is where it ends, yet it doesn’t.

The media owner runs his agenda on his media house, craftily and subtly shaping the opinions of those under his ‘kingdom’.

Do you think it is any different with AI and the social media it runs?

Of course not.

It is far worse.

We are therefore looking at control beyond anything we have ever imagined.

But let me stop here.

Fill your own gaps.