We are scared of artificial intelligence (AI) just as we were once scared of computers and joblessness. We later found the fear was misplaced.
Computers and the internet later created new jobs and made our lives easier, but not necessarily happier. Human nature takes over after a technology matures.
Noted how we now take longer to reply to emails and WhatsApp? Remember when they were new?
AI is scaring us for three reasons. One is the fear of joblessness. The fear is exacerbated by the fact that unlike industrialisation which rendered the poor jobless, AI could lead to job losses among the elite.
Think of lawyers, accountants or investment advisers losing jobs. It seems as long as it was the “others” losing jobs, it was ok.
Let’s go back again. Computer job losses were counterbalanced by gains in new jobs like software engineers, programmers, data base administrators, among others. But it did something else quietly, it gave power to the younger generation, away from the boardroom.
Computer experts tend to be younger than board members. Think of a 60-year-old board member listening to 25 years nerd explaining the power of AI!
Will AI give the youngsters, including Gen Z more power? For a long time, the road to a CEO position was through accounting and finance. It was smoother if that knowledge was combined with other functional areas like engineering. Lately, operations managers, “the do” people are heading to CEO offices.
In Kenya, lawyers are heading to corner offices, courtesy of a greater emphasis on compliance. In addition to levies like housing, compliance is the other drain on company coffers and time.
Will the new CEOs come from the AI field as we navigate the complexities and fears of AI? Maybe.
Will new rules and regulations be put into place to slow down the growth of AI and its corporate power? Will the older generation watch as power and privilege slip away from their hands? Culture and traditions may slow down AI, not technology.
Will politicians watch as joblessness from widespread use of AI threatens their grip on power? In developed countries, elections are won or lost based on unemployment levels. Do you recall 2022 polls were about economics?
The second fear is more profound. Will AI control us? The fear of AI controlling us sank when I rode in a driverless car in Silicon Valley, California, last year. What if trains, matatus and planes also become driverless?
The real fear is if AI starts making decisions for us in health, schools, courts, taxation, and even choosing a spouse! Autonomy is what makes the human species unique. What if it’s lost to AI?
Its gets more scary. AI programs are written by human beings, and even training the AI systems is done by human beings, complemented by machines.
It means the world will eventually be controlled by only a few people. Would they take care of our interests or their own? What if the owners of AI systems form an alliance with politicians? Shall there be digital colonialism?
Think of it, all the AI platforms you love, ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, Gemini, among others, are domiciled in the West. Who develops the content and “reasoning”? What of our knowledge and context?
Have you noted that owning an AI platform is the new status symbol in the West? We are still stuck in V8.
It seems whoever controls AI will control the world, just like gunboats and nuclear power in the past. And lately, rare earths, which are linked to AI. As other countries develop their AI platforms, we are fighting plagiarism and land grabbing.
The deeper fear with religious connotation is that AI becomes more intelligent than us. If research done in years can be done in hours and get superior results, you have something to worry about, more so in academia.
The other silent fear is that China could become a leader in AI, just like in electric battery vehicles (EBV). That has implications for geopolitics and geo-economics.
Remember the consternation over Deepseek? The frugality of the Chinese and Indians makes them credible competitors. Remember, in AI, it’s about brains. A large Chinese and Indian population means more geniuses.
If China dominates the electric car industry and AI, it will upend the long-held belief in the superiority of Western civilisation. Could that explain why so much money is being poured into AI in the West to outdo China?
Could that explain the new scramble for rare earths, including in Greenland? We have to use media and movies, the soft power, to shape opinions. AI will now do that, and easily.
AI is here to stay, and it’s already on your phone. The big question is who will be the AI superpower and what will be the implications on our lives, from homes to work place. Feeling the AI heat? Talk to us.
