Humans have always defined themselves as superior to the rest of the living world through their intelligence. By directly imitating this faculty, artificial intelligence touches a sensitive point: our claims are called into question, our biases exposed and our flaws revealed.
The continued use of technologies that enhance our capabilities paradoxically leads to the atrophy of what is assisted. We are clearly less strong and resistant than our ancestors, but we live much longer. Given this essential fact, the choice is easy to make: a longer, more enjoyable life is worth a few concessions.
Will the use of A.I. make us less intelligent? Students are already observing that they learn less with A.I. By not doing the thinking that leads to results, little learning is achieved, apart from learning how to use the machine properly, because the answers don't make the learning, they only demonstrate it. A.I. in learning would be like a gym, with the machines doing the exercising. We feel the need to go to the gym to compensate for the physical assistance we enjoy in our activities; to compensate for A.I. assistance, new forms of pedagogical activity or intellectual training are already on the horizon.
We are currently discovering many other effects of A.I..... their interpretative capacities lead to all kinds of aberrations, and we will soon have to strictly supervise them, at the risk of losing control of our lives to those who define the parameters of A.I.s.
What makes us human goes far beyond our intelligence. Those who are less intelligent are no less human, and those who are very intelligent don't make better humans. May A.I. help us reveal our essence and better understand ourselves.
Denys Lamontagne - [email protected]
Illustration: "I don't have the solution, but I admire the problem" - SerenityArt - Pixabay
