Earlier this week, Rishi Sunak and Elon Musk discussed the future of Artificial Intelligence at Bletchley Park. Whilst reading about it in the paper on Sunday, I felt this odd presentiment that I was witnessing history unravel before me. Maybe I’d be telling my grandchildren about this interview, or perhaps they’d ask me about it for their school projects over the kitchen table. I was so fascinated, in fact, that I immediately watched the full video and made myself late to subsequent plans.
During this interview, Sunak and Musk considered the fast-approaching dystopian-like world of the future. The most interesting topic discussed, though, was how AI would affect the day-to-day life of citizens around the world. For instance, Sunak (obviously) placed great emphasis on how this would affect the labour market and education systems. Musk went on to say that AI will be like a “magic genie” that “will be able to do anything,” thus creating a future of abundance where scarcity ceases to exist. By this, he meant that AI will be able to replace all jobs.
Watching this interview as a Philosophy student, a particular comment by Musk took a hold of me: “How do we find meaning in life if you have a magic genie that can do everything you want?”. Though I had never considered how AI will affect human agency, it is now a topic I have become transfixed by. How can one find meaning in tasks if their purposes are being replaced by machines and new technologies?
During the interview, both Sunak and Musk made it very clear that, to them, “work gives you meaning” and without it you lose a sense of purpose. When Musk went on to quip about a time he had stayed up until 3am to work on a project, before asking himself: “Wait – why am I doing this? I can just wait for the AI to do it,” the audience laughed at his honesty. In fairness, so did I; my chuckle, though, was slightly more nervous in nature.
At first glance, one is inclined to agree with Musk’s dismissal of the implications of this: are laborious, mundane tasks really what make us feel like human agents? But it is important to note that AI could take over all forms of labour: emotional, domestic and corporate. For instance, an AI system could perform the labour of raising children, which for some mothers is their life and joy, and provides them with sense of purpose.
Opening the discussion to what accounts to the qualities of human agency would exceed my given word count. But let it be known that if human agency consists of having a sense of control over your actions, and AI systems would take at least something away from that. Why would one bother to do things that could effortlessly be accomplished by AI systems? This may create an apathetic mentality in society.
Is your purpose in life wholly defined by your labour? What you as an agent contribute to the labour system? I think not, but I could see how work could add purpose to your life. Setting goals and achieving them is what gives me a sense of purpose, and the fact is that AI could achieve my goals for me could take away from the feeling of accomplishment. For some, it is their faith or spirituality that gives their life purpose. For others, it is the arts and relationships. I think Musk and Sunak failed to appreciate this in their discussion, and I believe that the emergence of such complex technologies will make individuals begin to appreciate the simple things which are truly worth living for.
“Are You My Mother? 3” by Duncan Rawlinson – Duncan.co is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.
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Will AI take meaning away from our lives?
Earlier this week, Rishi Sunak and Elon Musk discussed the future of Artificial Intelligence at Bletchley Park. Whilst reading about it in the paper on Sunday, I felt this odd presentiment that I was witnessing history unravel before me. Maybe I’d be telling my grandchildren about this interview, or perhaps they’d ask me about it for their school projects over the kitchen table. I was so fascinated, in fact, that I immediately watched the full video and made myself late to subsequent plans.
During this interview, Sunak and Musk considered the fast-approaching dystopian-like world of the future. The most interesting topic discussed, though, was how AI would affect the day-to-day life of citizens around the world. For instance, Sunak (obviously) placed great emphasis on how this would affect the labour market and education systems. Musk went on to say that AI will be like a “magic genie” that “will be able to do anything,” thus creating a future of abundance where scarcity ceases to exist. By this, he meant that AI will be able to replace all jobs.
Watching this interview as a Philosophy student, a particular comment by Musk took a hold of me: “How do we find meaning in life if you have a magic genie that can do everything you want?”. Though I had never considered how AI will affect human agency, it is now a topic I have become transfixed by. How can one find meaning in tasks if their purposes are being replaced by machines and new technologies?
During the interview, both Sunak and Musk made it very clear that, to them, “work gives you meaning” and without it you lose a sense of purpose. When Musk went on to quip about a time he had stayed up until 3am to work on a project, before asking himself: “Wait – why am I doing this? I can just wait for the AI to do it,” the audience laughed at his honesty. In fairness, so did I; my chuckle, though, was slightly more nervous in nature.
At first glance, one is inclined to agree with Musk’s dismissal of the implications of this: are laborious, mundane tasks really what make us feel like human agents? But it is important to note that AI could take over all forms of labour: emotional, domestic and corporate. For instance, an AI system could perform the labour of raising children, which for some mothers is their life and joy, and provides them with sense of purpose.
Opening the discussion to what accounts to the qualities of human agency would exceed my given word count. But let it be known that if human agency consists of having a sense of control over your actions, and AI systems would take at least something away from that. Why would one bother to do things that could effortlessly be accomplished by AI systems? This may create an apathetic mentality in society.
Is your purpose in life wholly defined by your labour? What you as an agent contribute to the labour system? I think not, but I could see how work could add purpose to your life. Setting goals and achieving them is what gives me a sense of purpose, and the fact is that AI could achieve my goals for me could take away from the feeling of accomplishment. For some, it is their faith or spirituality that gives their life purpose. For others, it is the arts and relationships. I think Musk and Sunak failed to appreciate this in their discussion, and I believe that the emergence of such complex technologies will make individuals begin to appreciate the simple things which are truly worth living for.
“Are You My Mother? 3” by Duncan Rawlinson – Duncan.co is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.
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