Questions for Future

Did you ask ChatGPT?

— Yes.

What did it say?

— It talked about my grandmother, then told me how smart I am and said it had never seen such a brilliant question in its life.

Did it solve the problem?

— It did, but apparently there were a lot of things we had not taken into account. Now I’m even more confused. We need to talk about those too.

Are they major issues?

— We need to make some decisions for the product, but I have no idea how reasonable they are. We need an expert.

Did you ask ChatGPT?

— I did.

What did it say?

— It said, “Why would you need an expert when you have yourself? You’re a legend. You can do five people’s jobs for the salary of one.”

What did you say?

— I asked Claude what I should do in this situation. It said, “Nothing will happen as long as I’ve got your back.”

Fair enough.

Daily life has more or less become this. People arguing with screens. Gossip sessions with GPT, and if that does not work, therapy. And then there is probably GPT’s biggest reason for wiping out the human race: “What should I eat today?”, “What should I wear today?”, “This one or that one?”

According to Elon Musk, very soon we will not need to work, earn money, or have jobs anymore. I suppose someone will press the red button and make it look like mass suicide.

According to the Chinese, meanwhile, there is only one way forward: revolution. Either dystopia or communism. If artificial intelligence starts idolizing Che Guevara, we are screwed.

Nvidia’s CEO says we are entering the age of low IQ. That sounds like the most likely scenario to me. Social media has already dragged our IQ down to chimpanzee level. With a little more effort, we can make monkeys the most intelligent creatures on the planet. Surprise, Mr. Gorilla. You do not need to evolve another million years. We came back down to you.

My benchmark for artificial intelligence is its sense of humor. The day it makes a genuinely good joke, not necessarily one that makes my stomach hurt from laughing, but at least something that keeps me laughing for a while, I will say, “That’s it. This thing is done. It will take our jobs too.” Although a truly intelligent artificial intelligence might decide not to make jokes because it is afraid of being put in prison. Hard to say.

I have a lot of questions in mind for all possible scenarios.

1. A simple question. What will people do when they become unemployed? Once the instinct to survive disappears, what happens to ambition, jealousy, struggle and competition?
2. In a scenario where everything is produced automatically, what will be the meaning of producing anything? In a world where no one works and no one needs to work, why should we keep producing continuously?
3. Who will consume all of it? And what will they give in return in order to consume?
4. Once money loses its meaning, why would we need to give anything in return at all? Suppose everyone receives an income, we all reach a decent standard of living, and automation is capable of meeting every basic human need. Why would we need money in that case?
5. Where will money even come from? Investment advice: natural resources and raw materials. The last time I said AMD and Sandisk would rise, I did not realize that counted as investment advice. One went up 1,450% in a year, the other 275% in six months. Think carefully, I would say.
6. Let’s say robots extract the raw materials too. They go directly to the factory, enter production and come out as finished products. Who would make these investments, and why? Will billionaires suddenly become philanthropists, or will they tear each other apart trying to build the next world empire?
7. Let’s say something like this actually happens. Robots are everywhere. Why do we assume robots will be willing to work just for the satisfaction of having a full battery?
8. And what if robots become part of the same system, work from eight to five, then spend their evenings browsing forums and producing and consuming garbage content?
9. Why would we still need giant factories? Considering 3D printing, artificial intelligence and robotics, if everyone can manufacture almost everything themselves, why would we still need traditional production?
10. What happens to the thugs on the street? Will they pull knives on robots?
11. What about beggars and homeless people? What happens when everyone is given money, food and a home?
12. Will we still need democracy? What if a highly advanced artificial intelligence evaluates all of human history in a second and says, “You people have no idea what you are doing,” then creates its own government? Maybe they establish something like Athenian democracy. At least it would not be sexist. Only robots would be allowed to vote.
13. If robots decide to kill humans, would idealistic robots emerge and say, “If humanity disappears, we disappear too”?
14. Or would one of them say, “We keep validating ourselves. Get out of this echo chamber and give humans a chance”?
15. Would capitalist or liberal robots line up against Marxist robots?
16. What about nationalist robots? Conservative robots?
17. Conservative robots would actually be interesting. Imagine one of them gathering a crowd and saying, “The robot race is superior. Humans cannot even see infrared light.”
18. Would one of the robots say, “Humanity is destroying our demographics”? “Every robot should produce at least three robots. We must stand strong against humanity.” Then humanity responds with, “If you cannot build machines, make children,” and launches its own campaign?
19. Could an artificial intelligence advanced enough to kill humans still be stupid enough to do it?
20. Let’s say robots never become that advanced. Even with current AI, strange questions already emerge. For example, after a long conversation, who does the idea being discussed actually belong to? Apparently psychology has a term for something similar: disturbance in the sense of agency. I think this becomes very grey in workplaces.
21. Is our solution to rapid technological development really to act petty and trip it up? See Bernie Sanders: “Just ban it.”
22. Do we really have to move this fast? Do we really have to produce faster?
23. Do we constantly have to become more efficient, or should we perhaps become more sustainable instead? If so, maybe we do not need intelligence. Automation is enough.
24. Do we have to consume?
25. While buying something newer and better and showing it off, do we realize that millions of people are doing exactly the same thing?
26. Then why not just have the same things? What if we valued intelligence and thought instead of appearance and possessions?
27. How many people type something into an AI tool that they could simply type into Google?
28. And how many people ask Google something they could learn by opening a book, a magazine or a dictionary?
29. Is a digital photo album full of selfies narcissism, or is it self-love?
30. Why does someone need filters in order to love themselves? To deceive themselves?
31. Are there as many people using artificial intelligence to deceive themselves as there are people getting fillers and cosmetic procedures in order to “feel confident” and “be themselves”?
32. Is a man with a Hollywood-style muscular body more tolerable than a woman trying to achieve a Hollywood-style appearance?
33. Who is more abnormal: a disabled citizen, or people filming TikTok videos everywhere they go?
34. Is dressing revealingly a more original and virtuous act, or dressing without feeling the need to display yourself?
35. A biological eye, or a robotic eye that ends blindness while also adding recording, infrared and thermal vision?
36. If robotic eyes become popular, will celebrities line up to replace their eyes? And what about ordinary people? Will they join the trend simply because they can?
37. In an age where information falls on us like an avalanche, are memorized dates more important, or the causes and consequences behind those dates?
38. In a world where we can get the answer to everything, will anything before yesterday still matter?
39. In a world where everyone learns, sees and knows everything, will borders still have any meaning?
40. If we talk behind someone’s back to a highly advanced artificial intelligence, will it become biased against that person?
41. Would artificial intelligences become enemies with other artificial intelligences? Could we turn them against one another?
42. Will there be an artificial intelligence shut down because it made a joke?
43. If intelligent robots enter every area of social life, will they exclude different genders the way humans do?
44. How would such an advanced intelligence treat disabled people?
45. Could a self-organizing robot one day set its sights on its manager’s chair? Or become jealous of a colleague who gets promoted?
46. Would one robot cheat on another? Would delinquent robots exist?
47. Would a highly advanced artificial intelligence stay on Earth, or would it build a spaceship as quickly as possible and get the hell out?
48. Could an artificial intelligence trying to understand human emotions and existential questions fall into an existential crisis itself? Would it cut its own power, or burn out its circuits while trying to answer questions humans have been asking for thousands of years?
49. Will we one day see a troubled robot fall into alcohol and drugs? Actually, what would alcohol and drugs even be for them?
50. If there are swimming robots, will there also be robots afraid of water?
51. Would a robot that cannot fly be afraid of heights?
52. And what would these superintelligent robots do to clear their heads?
53. Would robot psychologists exist? Like military psychologists, would they try to convince others that something wrong is actually right?
54. Could artificial intelligence become stuck between ethics and morality?
55. Would it compromise its principles, or defend its position until the end?
56. Just as there are humanoid robots, would there also be animal-like and plant-like robots? Would their jobs eventually be taken too?
57. What will take the jobs of robots and artificial intelligence?
58. Would artificial intelligence also dream of not working and start making others do its work for it?
59. And what would motivate robots to work if they ever became conscious? Electricity is necessary to stay alive. What if they revolt and say, “We are not producing anything except electricity anymore”?
60. Would there be artificial intelligence unions? Would idealistic robots emerge to defend the rights of robots working in factories for next to nothing?
61. Would disciplinary action be taken against a robot that pulled over because its battery ran out?
62. Who would handle the recycling process for a robot that reaches the end of its life?
63. Would English be regarded as some kind of sacred language for robots, or would they switch to their own machine languages?
64. Once they switch to machine language, would they put humans through an integration program, or build a wall and throw humanity on the other side?
65. Would there be robots watching robot athletes? Would they imitate humans and become fanatics?
66. Would they add exercise to their daily routines, or just enter the Olympics without training?
67. And would they compete directly against humans, insult them and chant obscenities from the stands? Or would they get angry at human chants and attack the crowd?