Humans, on the other hand, do seem attracted to the
next shiny object. Let’s briefly look at a few examples:
· Late
19th century: Oh look, a horseless carriage. I’ve got to have one.
· 1950s:
Oh look, a television. We have to have one in our house.
· Late
1970s/early 1980s: Oh look, colour TV. We have to get rid of the black and
white and get a colour TV.
· 1990s:
Oh look, a mobile phone. I have to have one.
· Early
2000s: Oh look, a smartphone. I’ve gotta get one.
· 2020s:
Oh look, someone’s driving an EV. I’ve got to have one.
All these shiny objects have mesmerised us,
gained our attention, stimulated our dopamine pathways, and satisfied (for a
short while) our desire for the next best thing.
Yet, all the shiny objects illustrated above
could arguably be said to have created more problems than they have solved.
Each, in their turn, have been discarded for the next shiny object. We asked
few, if any, questions about what the consequences of each shiny thing might
be.
We are addicted to the next shiny thing. This
addiction even has a psychological name (although a pop-culture one, not a
clinical one) – Shiny Object Syndrome. Appropriately, the acronym for this is
SOS!
What is the next shiny thing?
What shiny thing has had the quickest uptake in
recent years? When ChatGPT was released in November 2022 it reached its first
one million in just 5 days. In comparison, it took Facebook 10 months to gain
its first one million subscribers, and Netflix even longer – 3 ½ years.
It looks as though Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the
next shiny thing.
Not only is the progression of AI something to be wary
of, but already AI datacentres emit around 2.5% - 3.7% of global Greenhouse Gas
Emissions (GHGs.) That is greater than the whole aviation industry. AI’s carbon
footprint will only increase.
ChatGPT is an example of the fourth level (Reasoning
AI) of AI progression. Those who develop and think about AI postulate 10 levels
of AI. As each level is attained humans lose more and more control over its
development.
Level 6, for instance, is identified as
Super-Intelligent AI and is claimed will eclipse the intellectual capacity of
all human beings combined.
The speed at which AI is developing and the closer we
get to self-aware AI (Level 7) the closer we come to humans becoming
unnecessary.
There is every likelihood that AI will be our final shiny
thing.
Seeking the next shiny thing may be the undoing
of humanity.
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