An Optimist Among the Fearful of the Future

What do you fear? Heights? Public Speaking? Clowns? I can tell you that most people fear uncertainty, or things that they cannot comprehend. I think we can all agree that the topic of the future contains the most uncertainty. It is what can happen, will happen, and what hasn't happened. Some people are excited for their future, while others worry. Today we live in a rapidly changing world. Technology is advancing faster than ever before, and while some people are upset that their newest iPhone will be obsolete in a year's time, others are fearful of bigger problems that the future might bring. Recently, The Global Challenge Foundation released a new risk report that lists catastrophes that might end human civilization as we know it. New members this year: artificial intelligence and nanotechnology. Artificial intelligence alone raises many ethical debates. Is an AI human? What if it is smarter than us? If it is, will it just consider us obsolete and kill us all? Will it have a god-complex like Ultron does in the upcoming Avengers film? As per the title of this post says, I am the optimist among those who are afraid. Yes I do acknowledge that there are always risks with any new technology, but I believe that AI's benefits far outweigh the risks. AI will be solving problems we don't even know exist yet. The major problem I see with those who fear any new technology or future outcome is that they assume cultural and social norms will be the same in the future along with the new technology. They always apply the new technology to today's standards. Well if you apply a super-advanced AI to today's society, of course you're going to think that it will consider us obsolete and want to kill us. That is just you recognizing today's problems and the ultimate "answer" to that problem. Take people's fear of robots in the 1950s. Dozens of films were released depicting killer robots running amok terrorizing civilians. Yet today, robots do so many helpful things for us. I think we as a society need to stop thinking about the sudden change new technologies will bring us, and start thinking about the gradual steps we need to take to even get there in the first place. Along they way, ethical questions will be answered, laws set in place, and tests taken to determine the best path for our future. There is no reason to fear new technology until we have broken in its shoes. Take it from an optimist like me who bought the very first iPad: do not fear the future or the uncertain, just embrace the change and hope for the best. 

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Ryan Zupfer