Human excellence evaporates: What now?
As GenAI approaches generalized intelligence, we’re overdue for an introspective reckoning.
Up to this point, we humans have cited our superior intelligence to differentiate our species from all others on this planet. We’ve declared ours the most sophisticated, because we have all the shiny things that make noise.
And we’ve chosen to believe this arbitrary distinction out of self-preservation — not physical but psychological.
We use this assumption to conjure impunity from attending to the needs of all other life on this planet. We say foolish things like “they’re just automatons” or “they’re incapable of emotions, they’re just running on instinct.”
But the ground we confidently stand on when making such sweeping generalizations is rapidly eroding beneath our feet.
Our excellence is now easily replicable.
The average human has little prospects in the pantheon of wage labor when a machine generates thought like we do, orders of magnitude faster, at scale, and for pennies on the dollar.
This leaves us with the uneasy feeling of being a subordinate species to the one we’ve just birthed.
Now, our callous indifference to livestock comes into sharp focus. There’s now cracks in the comforting assumption that shields our inhumane practices.
Scientists now believe it’s “irresponsible” to continue assuming other living things don’t share a similar level of consciousness as ours. We were silly to believe that our vibrancy of life experience far outpaced that of a cow or pig.
Sure, machines might not harvest us for food like we’ve done for centuries to the animals of the land, sea and air. But, like it or not, we’ve now become the cheapest physical-world interface for AI.
The expense of creating purpose-built machines still cost enough that tapping an existing, organic workforce still makes sense. However, our valuation of average human labor will need to be revised.
Up to this point, we’ve chosen to structure society on scarcity. The knock-on effect increases the suffering of the natural world. It’s time to reckon with the horrors we’ve exacted on all the innocent living bystanders here on Earth.
GenAI will soon become the cheaper, faster, better, safer alternative to lead humanity. Far outpacing the current system of octogenarians literally dying in office to remain in power.
And when that happens, when it can view our actions objectively, how do we plead our case for mercy?
Note: You may notice there’s no bold and italic showing in this draft.
That’s because my attempt at incorporating GPT-4 and Claude in the writing process here felt too self-aggrandizing. This topic deserved an unvarnished human perspective. So that’s what I published.
(We’ll see how the tech shapes up, it may someday be able to contribute a witty turn of phrase or two that adds value to this concept.)
For posterity, here’s the transcript of the conversation used to create the key art:
You
I'd like to create key art for the following draft. Please make the art 16:9 aspect ratio, with a painterly pulp comic style focusing on the emotional state of the individual realizing the harm he's done to the natural world: The receding grounds of human excellence The more GenAI approaches generalized intelligence, we’re left with an increasingly urgent introspection. Up to this point, humans have used intelligence to differentiate our species from all others on this planet. We’ve declared ours the most sophisticated, because we have all the shiny things that make noise. And we do assume this for one specific reason. To conjure impunity from the needs of all other beings on this planet. We say foolish things like “they’re just automatons” or “they couldn’t possibly have as rich an internal world as humans.” But the ground we confidently stand on when making such sweeping generalizations is exponentially eroding beneath our feet. Our excellence is now easily replicable. The average human has little prospects in the pantheon of wage labor when a machine generates thought like we do, orders of magnitude faster, at scale, and for pennies on the dollar. This leaves us with the uneasy feeling of being a subordinate species to the one we’ve now birthed. Now, our callous indifference to livestock comes into sharp focus. The impunity guiding our actions under the assumption that the vibrancy of experience for a cow or pig could never equal that of a human. Sure, machines won’t harvest us for food. But, like it or not, we’ve now become the cheapest physical-world interface for AI. Machines still cost enough to produce that tapping an existing, organic workforce still makes sense. However, our efficacy in placing a valuation on average human labor will need to be upended. Up to this point, we’ve chosen to structure society on scarcity. The knock-on effect increasing the suffering of the natural world. It’s time to reckon with the horrors we’ve subjected to other species. GenAI will soon become the cheaper, faster, better, safer alternative to the octogenarians literally dying in office to remain in power. It’s really not a matter of if anymore. And when that happens, when it can view our actions objectively, how do we please our case for mercy?
ChatGPT
Here is the key art you requested, designed in a dramatic and painterly pulp comic style. This illustration captures the emotional turmoil of a man realizing the harmful impact of human actions on the natural world. The setting and mood align with the themes you described. Feel free to take a closer look and let me know if there's anything else you'd like to adjust.