Under what circumstances does artificial intelligence turn from friend to foe?!
This depends on the actions of ruling politicians and their supporters in
their confrontation with the opposition
Global
digitalization experience shows that many countries are attempting to exploit
scientific advances and advances in information technology to comprehensively
collect and accumulate personal data. The goal is to ensure effective control
over their citizens.
Particularly
vulnerable in this regard are residents of countries where power is in the
hands of authoritarian regimes, where politicians in power do not hesitate to
exert total control over the private lives and activities of citizens. Those in
power regulate and punish any actions that do not align with the worldview of
the ruling regime's representatives. They harshly restrict opinions,
initiatives, and creative expressions that contradict their selfish motives and
beliefs.
To ensure this
kind of control, state institutions are interested in collecting, accumulating,
and processing the largest possible volume of diverse information about
citizens for the benefit of the authorities. In authoritarian countries, the
ruling elite attempts to integrate various IT innovations into a single digital
platform, thereby achieving total control over the private lives of the
country's citizens. This provides virtually unlimited opportunities to organize
and customize private life in accordance with the authorities' notions of
obedience, proper behavior, public order, the rule of law, and so on.
To prevent the
dehumanizing scenario of state digitalization from materializing, it is
necessary to draw the conclusion - based on
historical experience - that there is
no point in overly worrying about the achievements of science and technology.
They should not be denied, as resistance to them is hopeless. But it is
necessary to mobilize willpower, suppress ingrained helplessness, overcome the
indifference born of a limited outlook, and actively participate in everything
that is happening. Only by participating, publicly monitoring, and managing
digitalization processes in the country can they be directed toward improving
democracy: humanizing them and shaping them in accordance with the needs of
society and the common interests of citizens! Taking this into account, we can
predict the possible directions of artificial intelligence evolution.
The first and
most dangerous scenario is when, in an autocratic, totalitarian state,
political leaders—dictators—use all the levers of power at their disposal to
tightly control and direct the development of artificial intelligence in a
direction that benefits them. They coerce and materially incentivize the
creation and use of artificial intelligence tools to maintain their power:
▼ for
self-aggrandizement, comprehensive monitoring of the lives of the country's
residents, and targeted manipulation of their behavior;
▼ for
censorship and modification of all information flows available to the
population;
▼ to violently
impose a personalized scale of values on the population of their country,
repressively suppressing every disobedient person, drastically restricting and
criminalizing the activities of opposition and dissidentsto
Under such
conditions, IT companies developing AI and approaching the level of Artificial
General Intelligence (AGI) are subject to pressure from government agencies.
This is happening using various tools at the disposal of state authorities –
from preferences and legal restrictions, pricing and tax policies, to the
nationalization of companies and the complete subordination of their activities
to the pursuit of state interests. In essence, a modernized Orwellian vision is
being realized, similar to what is currently happening in North Korea.
The second and
most likely predictable direction of artificial intelligence development in
democratic countries in the current situation is attempts by dominant IT
companies to discredit against
competitors both domestically and internationally. The goal is to limit their
ability to compete successfully in the existing market, including by acquiring
and incorporating them into their corporation.
As a result,
an oligopoly emerges and strengthens, making it very difficult for competitors
to enter the existing IT market. In effect, the market is monopolized. Dominant
companies begin to dictate favorable commercial terms for themselves and gain
the ability to determine the strategy and goals for the development of
artificial intelligence. This will continue until government agencies begin to
more strictly regulate, control, and limit the freedom of action of IT
companies. This often happens in the interests of existing political forces,
which don't always align with the desires of consumers and users of AI
services. Or they contradict the requirements of public good criteria, even
conflicting with universal human values.
Creating a safe, reliable, and empathetic artificial
superintelligence is the most critical socio-technological challenge of our
time. Its solution must ensure that humans are and remain at the center of
digital transformation.
This
imperative can be achieved by pursuing the third, most optimal and secure path
to the harmonious development of AI, based on mobilizing humanity's collective
intelligence :
▼ to build a
democratic future for the good of all Humanity in collaboration with artificial
intelligence;
▼to ensure
optimum respect for the interests of all civilisation in a comprehensive scope;
▼ to prevent
AI technologies from being used as a weapon by dictators to enslave people,
suppress their freedom of expression, degrade their dignity and turn them into
helpless, inferior individuals;
▼to confirm
that innovative artificial superintelligence (ASI) becomes a benefactor
of humanity, not a source of disaster;
▼ to help
people find a worthy place in the world and find meaning in life;
▼ to prevent
the populist and demagoguery practices still widely used by autocrats and
dictators, exploiting self-proclaimed "national" interests and the
concept of state sovereignty as a tool to manipulate the emotions and minds of
citizens in order to maintain their power at any cost.
To achieve
this goal, it is first necessary to organize and create supranational
structures that integrate, unite, purposefully coordinate, and oversee the
efforts of IT companies in the field of AGI. While these could initially be
regional in scope, in the near future they should become global (for example,
under the auspices of the UN).
This would
ensure mutually beneficial and fruitful interstate cooperation and
significantly reduce the determining role of commercial criteria in the process
of AGI creation. This would also allow for the development of rational legal
norms defining goals, establishing incentives for their achievement, and
establishing necessary restrictions. So that innovations in AI technologies
further expand human capabilities and truly bring diverse benefits to society,
contributing to the flourishing of civilization.
As a result,
the requirement to ensure the use of AGI and, in the long term, ASI superpowers
for the benefit of all would become a universal priority. This would also
prevent the concentration of power in the hands of dishonest politicians and
create the conditions for the disappearance of sharp social inequalities.
At the same
time, the necessary preconditions would be created so that rationally thinking
political leaders of countries embracing the idea of humanism could justify
their actions and activities consciously and with an understanding of the
following conditions:
▼ that the
potential of every nation's power is fully realized only through cooperation,
solidarity, trust;
▼ that the
greatness of any politician lies in their humanity, not in the ambitions of
power;
▼ that respect
for human rights, both in word and deed, is a mandatory requirement for
ensuring the happy and sustainable development of a nation;
▼ that
ensuring freedom of expression for every human being also serves as a guarantee
of adequate freedom for all other members of society.
While the path
of AI development proposed and recommended here is undoubtedly the best from
the standpoint of the progressive evolution of civilization—since it
corresponds to the common interests of all nations of the world—it is
nevertheless the most difficult to implement in today's conditions.
So, what is
necessary for the successful implementation of the vision proposed here?
First of all,
it is necessary to take into account the generally accepted notion that a
reasonable person rationally evaluates circumstances and takes purposeful
actions. Thus, everything begins with the individual, manifests through the
individual, and ultimately returns to the individual in the form of the natural
consequences of their actions. If a person fails to observe objective
cause-and-effect relationships in their subjective actions—if they violate them
intentionally, thoughtlessly, or foolishly—the consequences will always be
unfavorable for them and, unfortunately, for their fellow citizens!
This means
that the primary role of the subjective factor must be taken into account when
developing strategies & political positions and organizing the mechanisms
for their implementation. And step by step, it must be ensured that heads of
state, politicians of all ranks, and civil servants, in accordance with their
competence, possess moral qualities commensurate with their social status.
This primarily concerns statesmen and
political leaders, whose worldview, motives, moral principles, ambitions, and
intellectual abilities—in other words, the sum of their personal
qualities—largely determine the course of a state's development and underpin
the nation's achievements. When the levers of state power fall into the hands
of incompetent, dishonest, lying, unworthy politicians, this create enormous
risks of regression and social degradation, jeopardizing the country's
progress.
Once in power,
such politicians become socially dangerous, as they reinforce inhumanity,
encourage discrimination, sort people by loyalty, and fail to strive to
eradicate inequality. They spread intolerance and hatred, exacerbate aggressive
tendencies, social unhappiness, and tragedies. Their actions become a primary
factor in the global deficit of humanity. Therefore, the policies pursued by
state leaders and the ruling elite, the goals set within them, and the methods
and means chosen to achieve them, are crucial to ensuring the progressive
development of nations. In turn, the development and implementation of such
policies are determined by the competence and humanity of party leaders and the
motives of their actions.
So what does a
voter need before making a choice and casting their ballot for a politician to
gain confidence in the correctness of their choice and to avoid falling prey to
demagoguery and populism again?
It is
necessary to develop an established procedure, a proven methodology, to
optimize the electorate's choice. A methodology that makes it possible to find
and recognize competent politicians worthy of power. This is the most
pressing and, perhaps, the most significant problem of modern democracy!
To
successfully solve this fundamental problem, it is necessary to clarify and
define the requirements for politicians' competence. A comprehensive assessment
of a politician's personality should begin with the development and testing of
a set of professional selection algorithms in the form of a pilot project.
After successful testing and practical verification of the algorithmic system,
this professional selection procedure should be legalized. It should then be
used to obtain an objective, scientifically substantiated, comprehensive
assessment of any individual seeking the approval of the electorate. In this
way, a humane portrait of the individual (profile, passport, identity card)
will be created, convincingly reflecting the totality of the individual's
personal qualities and skills. Their professional abilities will also be
presented, and the relevance of their previous activities to the needs of
society will be established.
The resulting
portrait would provide voters with a truthful, sufficiently complete, and clear
picture of a candidate for the people's mandate. Such a portrait would also
allow to predict their ability to effectively address current societal
problems. The portrait would objectively characterize their potential for
advancing civil society through the successful implementation of reforms,
initiatives, goals, and promises proposed in the platform of the party they
represent.
Every employer
carefully selects their employees, thoroughly studying their characteristics
and professionalism, including with the help of specialized recruiting
agencies.
Why should the
people, who employ politicians, continue to tolerate a deeply flawed, yet still
widespread, manipulative, opaque, and risky selection procedure—limited to
party boundaries?!
In reality,
such an approach disdains voters' freedom of choice. A system in which
ambitious, often dishonest, incompetent, and power-hungry careerists are
secretly promoted and offered to voters. They don't meet the criteria of
humanism or the demands of social progress, yet they are close, useful, and
necessary to influential and socially significant groups. As a result, society
as a whole, every voter, suffers: corruption, social inequality, poverty of
spirit, conformism, favoritism, hypocrisy, lies spread, conflicts multiply and
new existential threats arise & emerge.
I believe, I
am convinced, that among us there are many intelligent, talented, honest, and
emotionally intelligent people—worthy of power—who, in the name of the common
interests of the people, are capable of digitalizing the country, creating an
open society, and developing direct democracy. Consequently, they are capable
of preventing the threat of totalitarianism and leading us all to a happy
future.
We must
purposefully seek out such individuals among us, identifying and creating for
them full opportunities to utilize their creative potential for the benefit of
society. These people must be presented to voters so that they can earn the
people's trust. This is essentially the purpose and task of the social identity
portrait….: See a more detailed presentation of the initiative in the book “HOW TO GET
RID OF THE SHACKLES OF TOTALITARIANISM: The Challenge to Overcome Political
Innocence” https://www.amazon.com/HOW-GET-RID-SHACKLES-TOTALITARIANISM-ebook/dp/B0C9543B4L
The idea of a social identity portrait is an
innovative response to the weakness of democratic institutions. It is a means
of unlocking the potential of the democratic order, a guide for necessary
reforms. It is a humanistic response to the manifestations of democratic
weakness, to the need to treat the symptoms of the disease. It is an attempt to
consolidate the diverse ideologies of different parties in order to find a
common denominator based on universal human values. It is a desperate endeavour
by someone experiencing turbulent times and unwilling to succumb to hopeless
apathy to warn all reasonable, active members of society about existing
threats, with the goal of joining forces to prevent them.
In today's reality, when the idea of a social
profile is still in its infancy, it would be useful to leverage the practices
of the IT company Safe Superintelligence Inc., as well as the experience of
NEAR AI, in efforts to combine blockchain and artificial intelligence
technologies. With a view to using artificial
intelligence tools to activate and promote unconditional adherence
to the principles proclaimed in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
as well as the Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of Human Rights
and Fundamental Freedoms.
A research paper predicting that
artificial intelligence will go rogue in 2027 and lead to humanity's extinction
within a decade is making waves in the tech world.
A frighteningly realistic scenario.
This video is from Tech Now, the BBC's
flagship technology programme : https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p0lwdg8y/is-this-how-ai-might-eliminate-humanity-
