To the editor:
Artificial intelligence and robotics are the most transformational technologies in history.
We are not talking about a transition from horses to tractors or landlines to cell phones. The shift will be from human intelligence to machine intelligence.
Pushed by the wealthiest people in the world, this technology has already undermined privacy and has threatened the education and mental health of our children. Millions of blue and white collar jobs will be lost because of the “increased productivity” of AI. Degradation of the environment by the electronic behemoth data centers, the backbone of AI, will be incalculable.
To think that the construction of data centers as some kind of noblesse oblige – bettering our lives with billions of high tech investor dollars for infrastructure improvements, new airports, contributions to charities, and secure jobs, plus the additional benefit of the tax revenues decreasing local real estate taxes – is pure fantasy. Ultimately, only the high tech moguls will profit and become more powerful at our expense.
Far from science fiction, catastrophe will result as AI “learns” to function autonomously without human control. Artificial General Intelligence [AGI], a type of AI, could exceed human cognitive abilities and accomplish tasks in a manner detrimental to humanity.
We must try to close this Pandora’s box.
For starters, regulate AI with a moratorium on data center construction.
In addition, establish guardrails locally and internationally to thwart these technologies before they function unpredictably and become an existential threat.
Joel Levie
Evansville,MN