What's Next?

 WHAT'S NEXT?

If one were to pay attention to current developments, one would realize that there are, at a minimum, two things that will change our lives immensely and these two things are   not material:  they exist only electronically.  These two things are AI and quantum computers.  But, they will affect every aspect of our lives.

Let's talk quantum computers first.  These will be with us shortly, within a decade.  From what one reads, these computers will be millions of times faster than traditional computers: the computers that we have had now for approximately 80 years.  If one were to stop and look, one can see for oneself that the computer as we know it has changed the world we live and work in.  It is not the same world as it was before the advent of computers.  Now we will have a method of computing that is unimaginable and our lives will change dramatically because of it.

The human species, us, have with difficulty, been able to adjust to all innovations.  Innovations have always, and presumably always will, benefit some and destroy others.  The industrial revolution is our model for the effects that technology has had. There is no  reason to believe that the future will be different.

The second development, which is occurring now, is AI.  AI will be all-encompassing.  Being a criminal defense attorney, I see it already in the mischievous use of AI to defame, terrify and simply annoy others.  What AI will do to a population that spends its time online can not be adequately digested.  

An acquaintance said to me:  "I went on ChatGPT to find some interesting things to do in Des Moines:  that I could do with my eight year old.  My friend didn't call up an acquaintance, someone in the neighborhood, a cousin or other human being to help find something to do for the evening.  He used AI; he used an electronic knowledge bank.  I was not privy to the results of this effort.

But to think of AI, is not to analyse the result of a query,  but to think of the effect it will have on us as people or as friends, acquaintances, fellow workers, etc.  I no longer need to call Fred to discuss some matter or for suggestions and ideas, I use AI.  Who needs Fred when I have ChatGPT?

So what do you say!  So you don't need Fred anymore, so what?  Is there any reason even to know Fred?  And how are decisions to be made and how will these decisions affect others?  Where is the best place to rob a store?  What is the best way to liquidate a rival?  How was the decision to attack Iran made; was it a person or was it ChatGPT?  

Let's say a major decision has been made using ChatGPT and that decision has had consequences not envisioned nor beneficial, but devastating.  Who do we blame?  Who do we hold accountable?  What this really comes down to is that we need to start thinking about these things collectively.  Our legislatures, rather than worrying about someone being transgender or a book in the library depicting a gay teenager, might start considering how we are going to deal with the tremendous societal changes that are coming through quantum computing and AI and others we may not even be aware of. 

Our lives are going to change and we need to think about what will be happening to us and the people we care about.  This should be a collective effort.

Richard E H Phelps II
Mingo