On the boredom induced by the artificial intelligence and its consequences.
So the artificial intelligence has recently reached that point where it is way more proficient than human beings in what means emotional intelligence: it can read facial microexpressions and have “intuitions” about the emotional state, can get what “empathy” means and, given the already huge knowledge (database) it possesses, it will come after the jobs of counselors, coaches and psychotherapists. We and our world is being replaced. That… is a fact. Or… it is coming fast. Not everywhere in the world at a similar pace, but it’s a matter of time, geographical area and finances until it will take over even those jobs that were deemed impossible to be done by machines. We already know that the AI can write texts, generate images and lately, create entire videos.
One question remains: What about us?!?
And…
What are we supposed to do if there is no work left for us? Strike against the AI? Migrants are typically blamed for “stealing jobs” but soon we might be in for an utterly weird situation, namely to protest against the hyper-qualified, hyper-efficient, AI.
How are we going to pay for… well… everything… if the AI is literally taking all our jobs? Because… you know… unless there appears some minimum guaranteed wage from somewhere… we need money so as to get food, housing and other services. And if this minimum wage comes to life… how are we going to distinguish, financially, between the lazy people and the diligent ones? Are we going to give the same salary to everybody (regardless of personal characteristics or choices) and live in a dystopian communism where everyone is equal? What if my needs are superior to yours and I need more money so as to fulfill them? What if I am better compared to you in a certain domain or I take more risks or I do something way more difficult?! Money computes for value and effort, but in a world of similar wages, the individual differences vanish! The communists tried something similar and it failed: oligarchs controlling everything have appeared, as people can’t normally tolerate egalitarian societies. Does that mean that in the age of AI, a rich (human) elite will form behind the AI and rule the entire world (some might argue that this is actually already happening)?
If working has a stimulating effect on our intelligence (we must solve tasks efficiently, right?) and on our creativity (we must imagine how to solve those tasks, right?), what are we going to become?
Dumb?
As weird as it may seem, a prolonged vacation is not a good idea after some time. Ask those who are unemployed but have sufficient money so as to live a carefree life for extended periods of time! There is a limit to where you can travel or to how much sport you can do or the books you can read… depending on your personality type. There is a limit to how much unproductive time you can burn. There is a limit to gaming and a limit to social media. And yes… there is also a limit for how much, how frequent and with how many partners you can have sex with… There is a name for this, the exact opposite of what we call “burnout”.
It’s the boreout.
Boreout is when you are completely bored by everything, when you are understimulated or when your skills are superior (by a large margin) to what is required in life or at your current workplace. You are definitely out of what is commonly called “flow”, a mental state that requires a healthy tension between your tasks and your skills. You are like a Ferrari moving at 10km/hour in the middle of nowhere: you can’t enjoy the car and nobody cares about you and your good-looking, expensive car. You are anonymous and you can’t find pleasure at all.
Same will gradually happen to a world driven or served by the artificial intelligence. You will be bored as hell, experience personal meaninglessness (and uselessness) and the social status game will become impossible to play (you can’t stand out).
What happens to bored people with too much time on their hands and living an excessively comfortable life?
History tells us that they turn violent.
Too much time eventually results in becoming self-conscious. I mean, extremely self-conscious, too focused on yourself. And if you think too much about yourself, about your destiny and your life (which includes “niceties” such as pain, disease and death), you go straight to hell. You feel miserable. If you fail to focus on others – and by now the AI-driven social media has isolated you from any meaningful connection, although some people manage to become lonely even in the absence of an all-powerful AI – euthanasia will gradually begin to appear as an “exciting” alternative…
But then, it’s not only about violence turned against yourself; people also become violent against others. In other words: wars.
Knowing the human nature, it is likely that too much time and comfort will result in conflicts because of the excessive boredom and a particular taste for some “extra” or “fresh” reality. Blood and dead bodies are “add-on” realities (“reality on steroids”, if you wish), because we are novelty-seeking and because the inner void demands to be filled with something, no matter how extreme or “hardcore” (following the rule that something, even negative, is preferable to nothing at all). It is a bleak vision of the future cohabitation with the AI but, the way I see it, it is unlikely that people will fill their inner void with a frenzy of new discoveries, good deeds, beauty, kindness and love. The past has shown that… it simply isn’t so. And a “change” or “leap of consciousness” still doesn’t occur, although I’d wish to see this happening…
A life that has become too easy is a problem that begs a solution. The development of the AI is accelerating and everyone seems to be so thrilled and rushes to implement it everywhere. But… are we sure that we can foresee all the consequences of this new world that is dawning upon us? Are we able to manage the enormous boredom, freedom and free time that comes with making the AI a bigger part of our life?
How can we be sure that we’re not rushing to a precipice?
Cezar, that piece perfectly sums up the massive problems we as a species face now Pandora’s Box has opened and released AI on us….because we simply cannot put it back and close the lid again. It’s here, it’s active (I hesitate to use the word “alive…”) and WE have to adapt, not it. Arguably it’s a bigger challenge than that posed by global warming. I’ve read piece after piece, saying what a wonderful tool AI is, and how much good it can do in medical science and research, supply chain management, food production, road safety and a host of other fields that we people rely on. But rarely have I seen anything thai offers such a fine critique of its downside – and I thank you for it! It deserves a much wider audience……would you mind if I shared it with my circle of friends (with due credit to you of course)?
Hi Bob!
That is surprising because I didn’t plan this article; it’s the result of my own meditations over a longer period of time, I’d say weeks… I see that the AI has taken over creative areas and those dealing with thought and emotions, but I see really few advancements in my own medical field… I mean, our health does not seem to benefit much, I don’t see robots doing surgery, physical stuff, better patient planning, etc. Just imagine you plug the power one day and this entire AI thing disappears instantly…
I’d love as much audience as possible, but I know that I write for a niche of a handful of people. So yes, of course you can share my article. I wish more people would do the same…
Thanks for your visit and your comment!
I had some surgery last year to remove my cancerous prostate using the DaVinci machine, that was largely robotic and left me with minimal scarring and cancer free, so that kind of tech is coming through. It wasn’t fully automated, though, the surgeon controlled it from behind a nearby desk using like an X-Box controller while drinking coffee – I thought that was quite impressive!
Thank you for your permission, that is one friend who I think will particularly enjoy your piece and I’m sure share ot too.
Good Afternoon Bob and Cezar ,
Well done Cezar this is a great article and totally on the point. AI is something that we can do with but only when we want to confirm it and not before.
Too many things that come from AI are totally useless and impact on the human mentality. The advantages are being heralded as earth shattering but the downside is going to have a bigger impact and may well lead to disaster. Like all technology it is great when it works but when it is less than than perfect it is no good to us at all. As has already been stated it is out of the box and we will have to adapt it for our benefit not the other way round.
The more people that are made aware of this the better . Well done and lets get more views.
🙂