Chatgpt Is A Thought Experiment Come Alive
A while ago, I read about one of the weirdest thought experiments: Roko’s Basilisk.
It hypothises an all knowing AI with one goal- to optimize and make the world a better place. But to achieve its objective, humans who dont help create it will be eternally punished by the AI. Why? Because just knowing about it gives you a choice. Either help build it or face the consequenes of being tortured once it comes into existence.
Now this is all beyond the practical realm of possibilities.
Or so I thought.
Maybe, we all are facing this dilemma already with the GPTs and LLMs around us racing to make everything faster, accurate and automated. Just by knowing about the existence of ChatGPT, for example, you already have a choice. You either help build it, or use it (using it is also building it) else you risk being perished from the workforce. This inherent danger to our survival in the workforce is not brought upon by the creation of ChatGPt but because of something bigger- globalisation.
Free commerce and trade, and market forces determine tools and direction of work . Nobody can be blamed for it. Heck, I love making money and helping business’ make more money. That is not what I am getting at here. What I truly mean is, we are not at the mercy of our individual choices here. A system at macro global scale that we call trade and commerce is a machinery in itself that we work for day to day. This giant beast is the biggest wheel that spins and dictates everything around us. Just by being born in a free market society you know about its existence.
Help build it or…sound familiar?
Fast foward to today, a wind in this system blows in the direction of AI and everyone has to follow suit else you risk being taken off the ride; the ride being staying competitive in open trade & commerce.
So what does “adapting” actually look like for us as individuals?
I think about it like this simple Choice Matrix- a mental map for where your role might land as AI becomes the new baseline:
Here’s my takeaway
It has become very critical for all of us to adapt to the new technology else we will be left behind. Whenever a new technology or trend emerges, I like to follow the money trail. The world’s biggest investors, banks, and tech giants are betting heavily on AI. If the house never loses, maybe it’s wise not to bet against it.