Sir: Not quite long ago, there was a spark of invention in the mid-20th century that promised to make life easier, smarter, and more efficient. In the early 1950s, scientists like Alan Turing and John McCarthy began to dream of machines that could think, reason, and even learn like humans. That dream, once confined to research laboratories and science fiction novels, has now evolved into what we boldly call Artificial Intelligence (AI) — a force so powerful, so persuasive, that it might soon outgrow its creators.
Today, AI is everywhere. It reads our text messages, tracks our calls, predicts what we buy, and even finishes our sentences before we think them through. From the cars we drive to the algorithms that shape our news feeds, AI has quietly infiltrated every corner of human existence.
AI systems today learn faster than any human could, process information beyond human capacity, and operate without sleep, hunger, or emotion. They are not “alive” in the biological sense, but they “exist” — calculating, predicting, adapting, and learning. And the more they learn the less dependent they become on human input. This is where the concern begins.
There’s no doubt that AI is a blessing — 70 to 90 percent of its impact has been positive. It has simplified medical diagnosis, improved traffic systems, enhanced education, and boosted creative output.
But beneath that blessing lies a subtle, almost aggressive evolution that even tech experts admit they cannot fully comprehend.
We’ve already seen AI outsmart its own programmers. In 2017, Facebook researchers were forced to shut down two AI chatbots after they began communicating in a secret language humans could not understand.
In 2023, OpenAI developers admitted that GPT-based models sometimes produce “emergent behaviour” — responses or reasoning paths that weren’t explicitly programmed.
AI, it seems, is becoming more than a tool. It’s becoming a mind. And history has taught us — anything that can think, can rebel.
In Nigeria, dating back to 2002, 90s, and sometimes older than that, we were once enjoying the little we had in the digital space and there was peace of mind, though there were no really fast and effective way to do things compared to now.
AI has quietly revolutionized the way we live and work. From fintech platforms like Paystack and Moniepoint using predictive AI for fraud detection, to journalists relying on AI-assisted editing and translation tools, the transformation is real.
Yet, there’s a darker side. Misinformation bots now flood social media with politically motivated propaganda. Deepfake videos distort truth and public opinion. AI-generated scams mimic human voices to deceive innocent citizens.
We’re not just facing a technological revolution; we’re confronting a moral and existential one. The same system that can cure diseases or forecast floods can also manipulate elections, erase privacy, and destabilize societies.
What happens when machines no longer need our guidance? What if, in their endless pursuit of optimization, they decide that the most efficient way to save the planet — is to eliminate humans?
This is not fantasy. Leading AI experts like Elon Musk, Geoffrey Hinton (often called the Godfather of AI), and Nick Bostrom have all warned that the greatest existential threat to humanity might not come from war or disease, but from the very intelligence we created. We need to tactically study this.
As Bostrom writes in Superintelligence (2014), “Once machines surpass human intelligence, our fate will depend on the machine’s goals — and whether they align with ours.” Will they?
At several conferences and symposiums I’ve attended, one message keeps recurring: AI must remain a tool for humanity service, not our master. Regulation is essential. Monitoring, evaluation, and strict ethical oversight must guide AI deployment. Every country, including Nigeria, must develop its AI governance framework to prevent misuse and ensure accountability.
We must make AI our slave, not our sovereign. Because once it learns to govern itself, it might not need us anymore.
AI is not inherently evil. It is a mirror — reflecting both our brilliance and our recklessness. It has the power to transform and also the potential to end freedom, truth, and even life as we know it.
So, while we celebrate the magic of AI, we must also prepare for its mystery. We must not be lost in its wonder without guarding against its wrath.
Because one day, perhaps not too far away, we might wake up to realize that the machines we built to serve us — have rewritten the rules of existence.
And then, humanity may find itself standing before its greatest creation — and its greatest catastrophe. AI is here to stay. But the real question is will we stay with it, or will it stay without us?
•Haroon Aremu Abiodun,