The machine roll-out

The previous post dealt more with the metaphysical side of the advent of artificial intelligence,  this one is supposed to give an overview of the least surprising course of events.

The age of works is characterised by

• social support,
• research and
• the preservation of cultural artefacts.
  

And in order to satisfy the demands of these undertakings, we need

• production,
• inquiries and
• behavioural control,
  

and hence these are the three points we should look at while concerning ourselves with the machine takeover.

Production. The machine takeover is well underway. There are no noteworthy ethical concerns about it.

Inquiries. Again, the machine takeover is well underway and there are no noteworthy ethical concerns about it.

Behavioural control. This is where the ethical concerns of note are. There is a consensus though that it is proper to enforce the law by means of machines. We already have algorithms regulating harmful communication and if a prison would be run by machines, there wouldn't be an outcry either. How about Terminator-style private security services? That wouldn't be unethical, or would it?

What will happen here, if things develop in an unsurprising way, is that people will learn over time how easy behavioural control through machines is. And then, when the continued automation of production will put its strain on the traditional political order, behavioural control through machines will become the method of choice to defend whatever new order is established, whether it protects the interests of the powerful and placates the masses with an allowance or whether it is egalitarian in nature and seeks to give everybody a carefree life of personal expression.

So, we'd get there, all right. Machines would be in charge of production, inquiries and behavioural control. We'd go under this and transform our lives into what I pondered in the previous post: the last, perfected day, the best repetition, the end of organic growth.

This isn't heaven, even if paradise is usually described like that. It is a glittering mockery, deserving of the title demonic, since demons have been associated with the Golden Age since Plato. I find it interesting that, as these things move nearer, everything becomes ever more classical: It might have been Zardoz 46 years ago, but by now it really looks like Nomoi.