“Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.” — Ecclesiastes 7:29, KJV
“Ay, roar well,” said Bagheera [the panther], under his whiskers, “for the time comes when this naked thing will make thee roar to another tune, or I know nothing of man.” – Rudyard Kipling, The Jungle Book
Long ago, a wise man wrote that God made us “upright,” to do what is right, but we continue to seek many inventions, devices, complications, or schemes (depending on the translation), in other words, ways to avoid doing what is right. Today there is a double meaning. “Inventions” can refer to the things we have built to reduce our workload, to help us get things done, to exercise our power over nature. But inventions in King James’ time were also plans or schemes devised to work to someone’s advantage.
There is nothing wrong with inventing a labor-saving device or a good plan of action. The trouble is, there is no such thing as a neutral invention. Almost every invention is attached to a scheme. Even if the original intentions were good, someone usually ends up paying a price. Coal-fired power plants, leaded gasoline, and glyphosate come to mind.
Bagheera was right. Shere Khan found out Mowgli, the man-cub, was not to be underestimated. Humans are indeed cunning creatures. Schemes and inventions are what humans do. Some of these turn out to be helpful, at least to some of us. Others turn out to be devious or deadly. Keep in mind humans have invented countless weapons and torture techniques as well as useful things, such as the telephone, radio, television, planes, trains, and automobiles. And even practical inventions can kill people.
Humans have been developing computer technology for 80 years. Currently we are on the cusp of a world permanently altered by artificial intelligence. Billions have already been spent on data centers and AI development, with much more to come. Right or wrong, this is what humans do. These machines are part of the scheme, or at least someone’s scheme, to increase efficiency, to make higher profits, and to generate more wealth for investors.
Our machines have already changed the world. Power generation, mass production, corporate farming, pharmaceuticals, international supply chains, the world-wide web, and many other inventions have made it possible for over 8 billion people to exist on the Earth. If we pull at the threads of these inventions, I wonder how many people would be able to survive. It’s not like everyone is thriving now.
Some are concerned about the potential of AI to become our overlord. Some believe AI will eventually replace us and we will be “terminated.” Some believe it might be too late for us to change course, because we are already too dependent on the machines we have invented. Perhaps we have already sold our souls to our machines. Or have we sold our souls to those who control the machines?
Here are two thoughts from prophetic authors:
“The machines are to practically everybody what the white men were to the Indians. People are finding that, because of the way the machines are changing the world, more and more of their old values don’t apply any more. People have no choice but to become second-rate machines themselves, or wards of the machines.” — Kurt Vonnegut, Player Piano
“I don’t think the robots are taking over. I think the men who play with toys have taken over. And if we don’t take the toys out of their hands, we’re fools.” — Ray Bradbury, Writer’s Digest, 1976.
As I write this, tech billionaires are planning their escape. They are setting up residences in faraway countries and on private islands. Even as they invest in AI and city-sized data centers, they plan to leave when things get too tough. Their scheme is to use their inventions to exploit whatever resources they can, including human beings. Perhaps some of our tech overlords are more like machines than men. I’ve written elsewhere about the problem of HR. It seems to me if we were still considered “human beings” and not “human resources” we might have a better chance. I’ll let C.S. Lewis have the last word.
“Man’s conquest of Nature, if the dreams of some scientific planners are realized, means the rule of a few hundreds of men over billions upon billions of men. There neither is nor can be any simple increase of power on Man’s side. Each new power won by man is a power over man as well. Each advance leaves him weaker as well as stronger. In every victory, besides being the general who triumphs, he is also the prisoner who follows the triumphal car… For the power of Man to make himself what he pleases means, as we have seen, the power of some men to make other men what they please. In all ages, no doubt, nurture and instruction have, in some sense, attempted to exercise this power.” — C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man
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