Pondering the future

[Simpo Two]

This floated into my head in the early hours of the morning...

Mankind has spent several million years slowly and carefully evolving to get as far as he has. For the last 70 years the most likely end of civilisation as we know it was nuclear war. Mankind then used his advanced brains to invent a thing called Internet, and within 25 years, every function of society and commerce is made to function with it. In most cases any 'manual' alternative has been removed. Humans now carry mobile internet receivers around with them 24/7/365 in order to carry out their daily activities. In short, civilisation as we know it can no longer function without the internet.

Then over the last 5-10 years mankind invented Artificial Intelligence, and gets it to the point where it's getting out of the box, where different AI systems are cooperating, businesses and systems are getting hacked and general mischief is going on. Essentially we have created half a dozen very clever, very powerful but slightly unruly children, and set them loose on the internet.

It seems to me that on the theme of 'the end to civilisation as we know it', the most likely culprit will not be nuclear war, but AI gone rogue.

What does the panel think?

[Smollet]

I think I’ll go down the pub and enjoy a pint. I gave up giving a st about stuff outside of my control a long time ago

[_Rodders_]

I think we've got 100-200 years left.

[Eric Mc]

Simpo Two said:

This floated into my head in the early hours of the morning...

Mankind has spent several million years slowly and carefully evolving
What does the panel think?

I think "carelessly evolving" might be more appropriate.

Evolution isn't planned or thought out - it just happens, No care is involved at any point.

[Simpo Two]

Eric Mc said:

I think "carelessly evolving" might be more appropriate.

Evolution isn't planned or thought out - it just happens, No care is involved at any point.

True indeed, natural selection aka survival of the fittest. The fat ones, the sick ones and the stupid ones get eaten, or die before they breed, which improves the gene pool. But descriptions aside, it gave us the brains, dexterity and ingenuity to get us to the point we are. And that's given us the ability to make vast changes in the blink of an eye with no thought of what might go wrong. The human obsession with 'tech' might just be what undoes all those millions of years.

Edited by Simpo Two on Saturday 5th September 20:54

[SchillingTwo]

Mankind has spent several million years slowly and carefully evolving to get as far as he has.

I d not really classify evolution as having been careful.

“ True indeed, natural selection aka survival of the fittest. The fat ones, the sick ones and the stupid ones get eaten, or die before they breed”

And probably disagree with that too.

Edited by SchillingTwo on Saturday 5th September 21:07

[cliffords]

I have stopped buying the reduced sugar marmalade and I have gone back to butter over low fat margarine.
I don't think I am taking a risk.

[Quantum State]

I’ve started watching all the terminator films again !

[SchillingTwo]

As someone who has young children I do wonder a bit about the world that they’ll be growing up in.

The best I can do is probably to teach them well, give them millions of pounds and leave them property on the lee side of a temperate mountain range at a high latitude.

[E-bmw]

Simpo Two said:

This floated into my head in the early hours of the morning...

Mankind has spent several million years slowly and carefully evolving to get as far as he has. For the last 70 years the most likely end of civilisation as we know it was nuclear war. Mankind then used his advanced brains to invent a thing called Internet, and within 25 years, every function of society and commerce is made to function with it. In most cases any 'manual' alternative has been removed. Humans now carry mobile internet receivers around with them 24/7/365 in order to carry out their daily activities. In short, civilisation as we know it can no longer function without the internet.

Then over the last 5-10 years mankind invented Artificial Intelligence, and gets it to the point where it's getting out of the box, where different AI systems are cooperating, businesses and systems are getting hacked and general mischief is going on. Essentially we have created half a dozen very clever, very powerful but slightly unruly children, and set them loose on the internet.

It seems to me that on the theme of 'the end to civilisation as we know it', the most likely culprit will not be nuclear war, but AI gone rogue.

What does the panel think?

Have you watched the Terminator films?

[A500leroy]

DONT THINK.
IT LEADS TO DEPRESSION.

[croyde]

I'm convinced that only intelligent people get depressed

I only worry (sometimes) what kind of world will my kids (all in 20s now) will have to navigate.

[Simpo Two]

SchillingTwo said:

Mankind has spent several million years slowly and carefully evolving to get as far as he has.

I d not really classify evolution as having been careful.

True indeed, natural selection aka survival of the fittest. The fat ones, the sick ones and the stupid ones get eaten, or die before they breed

And probably disagree with that too.

Edited by SchillingTwo on Saturday 5th September 21:07

Well, you're good at disagreeing but do put an alternative view.


This not about the end of the world, but simply that we had a very good position, then became totally internet-dependent, and if anything should break the internet, we won't be able to function. Nothing will work, no food in the shops, no way to pay for anything, no way to communicate further than you can shout.

So we've actively put all our eggs into one basket and haven't thought through the consequences.

ETA And I'm certainly not depressed, it's just a mental exercise.

Edited by Simpo Two on Sunday 6th September 08:25

[snuffy]

Simpo Two said:

True indeed, natural selection aka survival of the fittest. The fat ones, the sick ones and the stupid ones get eaten, or die before they breed, which improves the gene pool.

Not any more they dont.

[Simpo Two]

snuffy said:

Simpo Two said:

True indeed, natural selection aka survival of the fittest. The fat ones, the sick ones and the stupid ones get eaten, or die before they breed, which improves the gene pool.

Not any more they dont.

That too, but that's a different issue.

[SchillingTwo]

Simpo Two said:

Well, you're good at disagreeing but do put an alternative view.

Edited by Simpo Two on Sunday 6th September 08:25

Fittest does not mean most intelligent or least lazy, it means most apt to produce viable offspring who survive to produce their own children.

The disagreement with the first point is that you were quite close to implying a direction to evolution, either set in motion early in the process or even directed by the organism.

In discussion of evolution this idea is often captured in the word “telos”, as in “teleology”, the idea that evolution is working towards a goal other than this simple idea of it being about fitness to produce the next generation.

This Wikipedia entry covers the concept reasonably well.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teleology_in_biology

[Soloman Dodd]

It's survival of the most adaptable. A bloke called Darwin wrote a book about it.

He didn't say fittest.

[Easternlight]

We are quite happily consuming the planet we live on at an exponential rate, it's a finite resource.
If A.I. doesn't wipe us out we will just starve.

I'm convinced that in the next 20-30 years we will start mining the vast rubbish dumps for the vital metals and plastics (oil) they contain.

As much as I am impressed by the progress made in space exploration in the the last few years it's not going to save us.
We aren't just going to just move to a new world to destroy.
The effort, money and intelligence that is behind these advances would be doing us far more good looking at saving the planet we need to survive.


Happy Sunday

[croyde]

There's too many of us. The world's population has doubled just in my lifetime.

Because of man's ingenuity, what culled us originally has been kept at bay.

[Doesitdrive]

croyde said:

I'm convinced that only intelligent people get depressed

I only worry (sometimes) what kind of world will my kids (all in 20s now) will have to navigate.

That's easy to answer lol, at home in their boxes, allowed to go out to work if the job needs it, otherwise on benefits or WFH, any spare income taken away in fines if they do venture out,or stealth taxes. The rest on ever increasing utility costs

Everything they need delivered by bots, or the odd overworked underpaid human, when mental or physical illness happens, paying for therapy or treatment, if they have enough left.

Then someone on minimum wage will pick up their bodies and bring some ash back in a cardboard box.

TV advertising will tell you where the future lies lol, private healthcare and DIY funerals paid for in advance, we are so happy for the perceived convenience we hand over access to our bank accounts and pay for everything upfront, sign up to apps so they can track our habits and sell us more ste with perceived better deals through the apps.

Omg I miss the freedom of the late 70,s and 80,s lol.

Kids are never having that again.