The human race is proud of all the “progress” it has made from the invention of fire to a walk on the moon. But somewhere in that spectrum of time we seem to have sacrificed attention to ethics. Yes, we still improve our health, have become more efficient and even found legitimate ways to increase our enjoyment of life. But some of our civilizations “progress” has presented problems. We can now clone living beings. Dolly, the sheep cloned in the 1980’s, should have been the warning that we were crossing the line between “what we should accomplish” and “what we can accomplish”. Several years ago the world wide internet was born with all of its incredible knowledge access. At first-and even now–most of us see it as the source of our news, entertainment, shopping, etc. But some have perverted its value to the ability to spread mis-information, terrorist activity, porn, and other less-than-desirable activities. Unfortunately we–as a society–have become so dependent on the internet that we have no choice but to accept the bad so we can still get the good. Now we have another “invention” that promises to enhance our lives even more, artificial intelligence. Only this time the techies see the implications and are warning us of its potential. “AI” is predicted to vastly improve our lot but it is also seen as a threat by those who developed it…kinda like Thomas Edison inventing the light bulb and then telling us not to use it because it could harm us. Some experts believe the eventual robot evolution could result in the elimination of all carbon-based forms (the human race) of life as judged inefficient by the bots. This seems far-fetched but it is a significant warning because it comes from those who understand AI better than the rest of us. As we approach the 2024 election AI has already been used to display what appears to be President Biden saying something that will cause him to lose voter support. Our message is this: until we recognize that there is a difference between what is “do-able as a controllable positive” and what is “do-able with possible negatives” we can’t really boast about progress. Running faster but in the wrong direction never wins the race. Let’s hope experts in every field of endeavor understand their responsibilities and make true progress–without endangering our future.
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