AI is Everywhere, but Nowhere
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is everywhere, whether that be ChatGPT, machine-generated art, self-driving vehicles, or of course the news. Every day, there seems to be some new controversy or breakthrough in the world of AI. Only a few days ago, OpenAI’s Board of Directors ousted Sam Altman from his position as CEO of OpenAI. Little did we know, he would return to this same position a few days later. While it may be tempting to get caught up in this drama, there is another world, which does not quite get the same spotlight: the 2.9 billion people who live without technology.
The Problem of Over-Innovation
We need to slow down in AI development, and focus on providing technology to these hidden people. As we pursue AI innovation, we need to be aware of the opportunity cost that comes with it. Small improvements in AI are not worth the resources that could be used to increase technology access. Every ounce and second we spend toward developing AI could be used to exponentially improve many lives.
At certain times, it feels like AI has turned into the new space race between large technology companies. We have to go back and ask ourselves, “Why are we even creating technology?”. It is paradoxical that our instinct is to be the fittest, yet we are creating machines that are dividing us. This is the problem of over-innovation.
AI is revolutionary: the idea that a machine can behave and learn just like a human is unthinkable. While once an eccentric thought proposed by Alan Turing—father of the modern computer, it has nevertheless become reality. However, in the same way that people saw Turing’s ideas as freakish, simple computers are still a miracle to many. While we are on the Internet watching people stream their everyday lives, others are desperately searching for a way to message their loved ones. Over-innovation has caused the gap between us and everyone else to grow at an unprecedented rate. In the context of a video game, while we have no delay, everyone else has uncontrollable lag.
How did We End Up in this Predicament?
Unlike many problems deeply rooted in history, over-innovation is relatively new. When we first began adopting technology, we thought that doing so would make the world a better place. We certainly had living proof to back this up. The invention of the airplane allowed us to travel from America to Asia in a snap, which was life changing. The creation of social media enabled us to communicate with people we had never even seen before.
While this preconception initially held true, it overshadowed the main motive for the creation of technology: fame and money. Innovators saw technology as a way to garner more power in a world-changing way. It is inevitable that powerful people will find ways to increase their level of control over others. By masking their true motives behind the curtain of technological innovation, they have trapped us into endlessly pursuing the “next best” invention at the expense of half of the world.
Approaching the Future
Technological innovation is a beautiful thing, but we now need to address the technological disparity that exists between different nations, communities, and cultures. We need to develop technology with the well-being of the world in mind, not just any particular organization. Furthermore, we need to empower individuals to advance technology in their own ways, free from the self-interest of those in power.
In the world of AI, we need to consider the areas in which technological advancement would be significantly beneficial to society, and also the areas in which it would not be beneficial or even harmful. At a certain point, the amount of resources and effort we contribute toward advancing AI technology will only result in marginal yields, or even negative losses. If we can focus on these broad goals and solving over-innovation, only then can we become one united, technological world.
See my previous post about the lack of technology in American communities: https://techeid.com/most-americans-cant-afford-computers/
References
https://www.itu.int/hub/2021/11/facts-and-figures-2021-2-9-billion-people-still-offline/
