Predictions in the Artificial Era

Abstract

Abstract The final chapter describes the human motivation for prediction, presents opinions and predictions about the future, and possible strategies to cope with it. First, it presents a study on Artificial Intelligence impact summarizing the opinions of hundreds of participants in tech communities. Next, it contrasts Artificial General Intelligence and Narrow Artificial Intelligence. Then, it reviews the literature on consciousness from the fields of neurology, cognitive psychology, behavioral neuroscience, theoretical computer science, and philosophy. It complements the literature review with ideas formulated in Greek mythology and science fiction, as well as experiences and concepts of consciousness narrated by a yogi. The chapter returns to a more practical side describing privacy issues and points out that we are in a critical phase of a Technological Progress wave. The chapter talks about inequality and describes some recent ideas to reduce it. Besides, it presents an extensive study on ethics and machine decision-making. Finally, the chapter reviews elements of harmonious and brutal societies and discusses concerns on smart technologies for defense and attack. Finally, it briefly summarizes possible strategies to harness technology for development in the coming years.