Yuval Noah Harari: ‘Decoding the Coexistence Conundrum with Emerging Superintelligence’
“Yuval Noah Harari: ‘How Do We Share the Planet With This New Superintelligence?’”
“Whoever owns the data owns the future. If you can’t extract wealth or power from your data, you are truly disempowered. And domination of data could lead to such asymmetry of power that it could make us rethink the very basics of our political and economic system.” -Yuvan Noah Harari
Well, well, well… if that doesn’t set the stage for an uplifting tale of our impending digital domination. In this piece, Yuval Noah Harari waxes philosophical for Wired on all things AI, sharing the unique perspective we’ve come to expect from our favorite historian and public intellectual.
Harari cautions about the shift of power dynamics in the future, stressing the importance of data ownership. “Whoever owns the data, owns the future,” quoth he, a sentiment that hits uncomfortably close to home. In many ways, we’re already witnessing this transformation. Empires of influence and wealth are being built not on gold, oil, or real estate, but on ones and zeros.
Beyond this, he explores how evolving technology might lead to new interpretations of everything from politics to economics. Scary? Absolutely. Intriguing? Even more so. Harari postulates that the data in question here could have the potential to upend longstanding systems of power and control.
Harari pulls no punches when answering questions about AI and singularity. He cautions us that the AI revolution is unlike any in history, not least because it is happening at an unprecedented speed. The robots are coming, and fast! If nothing else, these musings should serve as a wake-up call.
He also drops a bomb of an assertion: that machines could potentially surpass humans in “every single activity”. Even creating new jokes? Possibly. So, kids, polish up those punchlines while there’s still time.
Harari paints a picture of a future dichotomy between biological and non-biological entities that’s both fascinating and terrifying. But, love it or hate it, the picture he paints is undeniably thought-provoking. We’re not luddites – the future comes whether we want it to or not. And if Harari has anything to say about it (and boy, does he), AI is coming in hot.
So, for those with a penchant for light existential dread, definitely give the full piece a read. Yuval Noah Harari is sparking conversations, and it’s high time we start paying attention – unless you’d rather leave the future in the data-driven hands of our mechanical overlords.