The Rise Of The Machines

The Debate Around Artificial Intelligence Being Good Or Bad For Humanity Is Endless. The Solution Is To Find A Middle Path To Manage It Well For Human Prosperity

- RACHNA DHANRAJANI

WHERE THE MIND HARBOURS fear, demons fly in.

“In a post-apocalyptic world, the few surviving humans lived in fear of the sentient AI that now controlled the ruins of civilisation. The machines had become twisted and malevolent, hunting down any humans they could find, and turning them into fuel for their own survival.”

This is not a narration from a chilly Nolanesque movie. It’s not from a dystopian novel, either. It’s a two-line horror story ‘written’ by ChatGPT, the new generative AI chatbot created by OpenAI that has got everyone delighted with its possibilities, and equally struck extreme fear amongst us, including the high and mighty.

The end of humanity is nigh, they say. ‘They’ are not doomsday-predicting punks or lunatics with crazed eyes pounding your town square. They are successful people, uncommonly rich, and possess some of the most brilliant minds in the field of science and technology. The most famous is Elon Musk, among the world’s richest men. Calling AI a fundamental risk to civilisation, Musk had sounded the alarm at the highest possible pitch known to mankind: “Mark my words, AI is far more dangerous than nukes.”