AI Perspectives
The writer, Ayyad Dilawar Padhani is in Marketing at his family optical practice. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management, Marketing and related support services. He has been rendering community services from a very early age.
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hatGPT by openAI, Bard from Google and other intelligent self-learning artificial intelligence chatbots have been the talk of the year since openAI launched chatGPT towards the end of 2022. Everyone seems to be talking about how revolutionary it’s going to be for the world economy, replacing hundreds if not thousands of jobs, and improving thousands more by increasing human efficiency and productivity.
As valid and pertinent as these areas are to explore, this article wishes to look at how this technology will come to affect our social lives, our minds, and our abilities to read, write, learn, express ourselves verbally and remember. The psychological aspect of it, how it will change the neural pathways in our brains and whether all these changes are going to affect our net positively or negatively.
Humans have reached here today after hundreds of thousands of years of data collection and evolving and adapting to their environment, however, technology has massively accentuated the speed at which we’re evolving/adapting. Examples from our recent past include social media, and slightly before that mass communication channels like TV and radio broadcasting.
Humans were never even able to talk to someone who was directly in front of them unless they waited months for a rider to deliver a note and come back until the telegraph came along which used electric pole lines to deliver messages from around the world almost instantaneously. Then came the phone, which had extremely high costs, keeping the majority of the world a lot from it, but now that’s easily accessible and practically free through WhatsApp or other calling social apps. The more technology remembered things for us, the less we had to store in our brains, is that a good or bad thing? Has our memory improved or deteriorated? Have we used our memory space for remembering more useful information?
A lot of life has been made easier and quicker, but is that necessarily a good thing? Is there value in doing some things slowly? Some things need and take time naturally to mature. Is there value in, say, eating a meal slowly, sitting with our family and friends for dinner every so often, cleaning our rooms, setting our beds, making tea or coffee manually, etc? Is it all having no impact on our mental calmness? These routines seem to be a sort of meditation. And give us a jump start to our days without which there is no runway to take off into productive work.
The internet came along and made communication so easy and accessible that now our ability to verbally communicate may be deteriorating.
We are close to each other on phones and social media, but our hearts and minds are further away.
Will talking to an AI that has been tasked with responding directly, customised to the user, destroy human/real-world friendships? What effect will it have on intimate relationships, after what we’ve seen pornography can do? How strong will our ability be to cope with issues that we face? The most important thing having been found to improve longevity, mental fortitude during hardships, and happiness is actually having a supportive community.
So if we further engross ourselves with a community that is only online, and now possibly that’s not even humans (who go through similar hardships as us), but rather AI bots, what will the outcomes of this look like?
When swords were created, somebody probably gave a speech or wrote something similar to this piece, thinking out loud about the dangers of the sword, and how it will cause corruption and bring about issues, but like other tools, humans have learned to control them. So hopefully we can eventually learn to live a life where we are not crippled by our need for AI technology but rather are empowered by it.
What is different though, unlike any other tool which needs us to decide how to use it, AI is projected to be able to make its own decisions, what they call AGI (Artificial General Intelligence).
Writing helps us think, process our thoughts, formulate clearer ideas and also speak more clearly. With these AI tools that I personally use often, I’m afraid that soon we won’t need to write much, or rather at all. Furthermore, as the tech gets better, it will become indistinguishable from human creators, and will likely be able to make art, music, books, explainer videos and entertainment that is better than human-made ones.
This brings me to the main question of this train of thought, will we become obsolete because AI will replace us and our creative works will become candles in an LED bulb world, horse karts in a car world, or libraries in an internet world?
Finally, what will happen to our remembrance of God? Will we become so engrossed by our friendship with AI beings we ‘create’ or customise (the way we see fit), that we lose focus on the real creator? How much of an issue will misinformation about Islam be an issue for us to tackle if everyone decides to trust Sheikh chatGPT?
This article was me thinking out loud about some questions that have occurred to me since the dawn of the AI saga. I hope these questions can be of some help in navigating your thoughts about it too.
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Below is an article that was generated by AI based on my unorganised prompt from the write-up plan for the above article, to write about the future of AI considering specific aspects as you’ll see the subtitles below (I have underlined what I have written to add clarity):
Introduction:
The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) in the 21st century has sparked both excitement and concern about its potential impact on our lives. As AI continues to advance, it is essential to examine its psychological implications and explore whether it will make us stronger or leave us worse off. This article delves into the multifaceted aspects of AI’s influence, including its effects on our creativity, cognitive abilities, interpersonal connections, artistic expressions, spirituality, and our relationship with God.
The Internet and its Impact:
Before delving into AI, it is crucial to acknowledge the transformative impact of the internet on our lives. While it has saved us time and brought convenience, it has also distanced our hearts from each other and made us more prone to laziness due to heightened levels of convenience through our devices.. The question arises: Will AI perpetuate similar effects or bring new challenges?
Maintaining Cognitive Abilities and Writing Skills:
One concern is whether our reliance on AI will diminish our cognitive abilities. Will our minds still be able to compute simple mathematical equations, remember simple things, and formulate concise thoughts, ideas and arguments, or will we become overly dependent on technology for our every movement? Similarly, will our writing skills suffer or will AI provide tools to enhance our writing abilities?
Creativity and Innovation:
AI’s potential impact on creativity is a topic of intense debate. Some argue that AI will force us to become more creative as we work alongside intelligent machines, while others fear that AI might stifle human creativity. Exploring these opposing perspectives will shed light on the possibilities.
Scarcity and Artistic Expression:
With the advancement of AI, the creation of man-made items, pieces of art, and books may become more efficient. However, the question arises: Will this flood of AI-generated content make truly unique and human-made creations ten times scarcer? Examining the potential consequences on artistic expression will be critical.
Spirituality and Remembrance of God:
The impact of AI on our spiritual lives raises profound questions. Will AI enhance or diminish our remembrance of God? Such considerations provide an opportunity to reflect on the intersection of AI and spirituality.
Interpersonal Connections and Altruism:
The rise of technology has sometimes led to a decrease in personal interactions and a more self-centric society. Will AI further exacerbate this trend, or will it inspire us to reconnect and do more good for others? Exploring the potential impact on our altruistic tendencies is crucial for understanding AI’s societal implications.
Nature and Human Connection:
AI’s influence on our relationship with nature is a pressing concern. As we spend more time in virtual realms, will we lose touch with the natural world? Will we become further disconnected from the forests, hikes, and beaches? Understanding the potential consequences for our well-being and the environment is essential.
Conclusion:
The impact of AI on humanity is a complex and multifaceted subject. As we navigate the uncharted territories of AI in the 21st century, it is crucial to critically examine its potential effects on our psychological well-being, creativity, interpersonal connections, artistic expressions, spirituality, and our connection with nature. By exploring these aspects, we can better prepare ourselves for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead, ensuring a balanced and beneficial integration of AI into our lives.
More from this writer:
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