World marching towards a dystopian future?

Wednesday 17th May 2017 07:03 EDT
 
 

Microsoft’s annual Developer Showcase held last week saw CEO Satya Nadella speak about the “profound implications” of technology on the society. What was supposed to be a platform for the company to boast of their conjectured superiority surprisingly turned into a daunting talk of post-apocalyptic future. Instead of bringing up topics like artificial intelligence, business productivity software, and cloud computing, Nadella urged developers to consider the potential “unintended consequences” of their creations.

“I'm an unrepentant tech optimist, there's no question of that. But I'm also grounded. There are unintended consequences of technology. And it's not that we can just use more technology to solve these problems, and technologies by themselves cannot solve these. But I do believe that it's up to us to ensure that some of the more dystopian scenarios don't come true,” he said. With the main conference screen displaying George Orwell's 1984, and Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, Nadella said, “What Orwell prophesied in 1984, where technology was being used to monitor, control, dictate, or what Huxley imagined we may do by just distracting ourselves without any meaning or purpose. Neither of these futures is something we want. So the question is: what are we going to do? Are there practical ways we can make progress?”

“I think it starts with us taking accountability. Taking accountability for the algorithms we create, the experiences that we create, and ensuring that there is more trust in technology with each day.” While it is unclear as to why he spoke on the topic, many are convinced it was a low-key dig at Facebook. The social-media website had come under severe firing recently following reports that fake news stories spreading on its platform helped manipulate public opinion and influenced the 2016 US presidential elections. “We want to think about people, but we also want to think about the institutions people build,” Nadella said.

Possibilities of an 'Orwellian future' have been high, especially in the last few months given the unfortunate chain of incidents occurring across the globe. In this context, an Orwellian future could be considered as a technocracy, a state of surveillance where data collected through people's communications, microphones and cameras in the home and in public, is fed to the state at people's detriment. The data being collected will one day be used in court to prosecute people in case humans continue to walk on the same path.

The steady rise of Artificial Intelligence has people worried about its negative repercussions. People in the tech world have been discussing on what it would mean to the society, especially since its growth could potentially eliminate jobs. Microsoft has been infusing AI into all its products and services. Vice-president of Artificial Intelligence and Research, Harry Shum said, “We've been creating the building blocks for the current wave of AI breakthroughs for more than two decades.” He added, “Now, we're in the unique position of being able to use those decades of research breakthroughs.”

Not just Microsoft, other major companies like Google, Apple, and Amazon, all have been aggressively pursuing the potential of artificial intelligence. The intriguing phenomenon will make itself comfortable in people's homes, with connected devices controlled by personal digital assistants, that already boast features such as reminding people of appointments, or doling out advices. Hollywood has made more than a handful of movies depicting the possible future of the world in case the machines decide to take over.

Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla warned against the perils of making machines smarter than humans, back in October 2014. One of the very few to call AI the greatest existential threat to humankind, Musk currently heads a startup called Neuralink. It builds devices to connect the human brain with computers. However, he believes it will be eight to 10 years before this kind of the technology will be ready to use by people without disabilities.

Not just AI, digital products are being misused increasingly. News lately have become a slew of 'Live' suicides and murders in a chain reaction with people pitching in for a desperate need for publicity. With terrorism, racism, and a clueless billionaire sitting on the Iron Throne, the last thing we need is hostility from technology created by us.


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