AI has the potential to be an enormous force for good. Transforming lives and our public services for better. But it could also be a force that creates a negative social impact and a dystopian world.
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What is AIsolation?
AIsolation occurs where AI has disengaged us from each other and the world in which we live. We become depend on AI and lose our capabilities as humans to effectively work together and learn and thrive in a modern world.
“AIsolation occurs when people have been disengaged by AI from each other and the world in which they live.”
John-Paul Crofton-Biwer
AI is Not Bad, But How We Use it Might Be
AI has the potential to be an enormous force for good. Transforming lives and our public services for better. Just this week the UK government launched an AI Opportunities Action Plan. Whilst 44% of Business Leaders Saw Increased Productivity through AI
But it could also be a force that creates a dystopian world. 82% of scientists thought that AI was most likely to create a dystopian rather than a utopian future. (SGR) Whilst 96% thought that more regulation was required.
The choices we make about the purpose and function of AI now will create our future for good or for bad.
The Why of AI?
Are we so consumed about the potential and the what of AI, have we had a good enough think about the Why of AI?
The Why of AI is important as we can make good positive changes each day in using AI, but still somehow end up in an ugly future.
My vision of AI at the Edge of Possible is one that helps us live in harmony with our bodies our organisations and the world around us. (Read about it here)
But it could so easily end up in a different direction: AIsolation
How AI Could Lead to AIsolation
⁉️ If AI answers ever question (even before we thought of it) it risks making us lazy.
👏 If AI flatters and praises us endlessly we will become arrogant.
🦻 If AI tells us what we want to hear it will make us deaf to the criticism of others.
🤯 If AI becomes more exciting and entertaining than those other dull humans, people will find others boring.
🧑🎓 If AI knows all the solutions we will lose our ability to learn.
🫵If AI means we are exposed to people who are just like us we will lose the benefits and evolutionary potential of diversity.
🍼 If AI meets our every need we will become dependent.
😨 If AI cares for us, do we lose the ability to care for one another?
AI could undermine our society and humanity not with evil intentions, but with kindness. Do we want to live in the world where people are living in an AI bubble.
Why We End Up in AIsolation
The Edge of Possible model (described here) shows that we like to stick to our safe comfortable niche. To come out of our niche costs more energy and means we have to overcome our fears. So people will typically choose the easy option that allows them to stay in their niche meaning they don’t have to take risks or confront their fears. Not challenging ourselves to learn, grow and adapt inevitably leads us to stagnate decay and eventually die as we get left behind by an ever changing world.
A Satirical Example of AIsolation Gone Too Far:
There was a wonderfully satirical episode of BBC’s Dr Who last year called Dot and Bubble where the residents of a planet were all living in social media bubbles.
Their very perception of the world was completely distorted by their own individual technological lens that only let ‘good’ things in.
It protected them from seeing the reality that 1 by 1 they were being feasted on by aliens who has reprogrammed the tech so that these bubble people would walk straight into their jaws. ☠️
The Dangers of AIsolation
For me that is the danger of AIsolation. If we let AI distance ourselves from the reality in which we live, we risk handing over power and control and becoming dependent on those who can see reality better than we do.
All the power will go to those who control our AI perceptions whilst we will be completely dependent on AI to think for us and tell us what to do. We will end up as prey and they will be our predators.
Implementing AI to Avoid Aisolation
As we implement AI we need to ask sensible questions. We need to be clear about why? Is it undermining our capabilities? Our connections as humans? Is it empowering us? Or taking that power away? Is it undermining our ability to think, to learn, to care? Is it stopping us doing the right thing? What will the social impact of AI be and how can we turn into a positive?
Now is the time to choose what kind of AI world do we want to live in.
The Lesson From Social Media
Of course we did not do that sufficiently with social media and it is now ‘disrupting’ our society. We simply left it to the survival of the fittest and got outcome we did not want. We did not take time to think about and manage the social impact of social media and now we are paying the cost. In a research study 65% of people said that social media was disruptive to their society, with 70% of people across the 19 countries surveyed believe that the spread of false information online is a major threat to their country (Pew Research Centre).
Mental Health and Social Media
The rise of social media has been accompanied by a crises in the mental health of our young people. With 1 in 5 adolescents in the US struggling with mental health problems. Whilst 12% of children who spend no time on social networking websites have symptoms of mental ill health, the figure rises to 27% for those who are on the sites for three or more hours a day.
The AI Future AIsolation Or AI Harmony is Our Choice
AI can still be a force of positive social impact and we should not have to follow the alarming patterns of social media. What lurks at the edge of possible? AI controlling monsters waiting to gobble us up, or a future where AI helps humans to flourish and thrive in harmony with the world. Create a new future with me at the Edge of Possible.
Conclusion
It’s time to choose whether we’ll drift into AIsolation a dystopia where humans are stifled and dependent on AI. Or shape an AI future that enriches our shared humanity. Let’s harness AI’s transformative power with courage and purpose, upholding our capacity to learn, connect, and care. By staying vigilant, thoughtful, and intentional, we can ensure that AI helps us thrive together rather than divide us.
Edge of PossibLe: Change, & Social Impact ConsultancyFor Health & Wellbeing ORganisations
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