On a rainy day of 1993, sitting on the edge of the last seat of the wooden bench of the boarding school, we watched the sequel to The Terminator(1984) , Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the second installment in the Terminator franchise, an American science fiction action film directed by James Cameron starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Robert Patrick, and Edward Furlong, on a box like curved screen Dynora TV, played through a Videocon VHS, cassette player. In the film, the malevolent artificial intelligence Skynet sends a Terminator—a highly advanced killing machine—from 2029 to 1995 to kill the future leader of the human resistance, John Connor, when he is a child. The resistance sends back a less advanced, reprogrammed Terminator to protect Connor and ensure the future of humanity. For me, as a fourteen year boy, the said story seems to be very illogical and unearthly, as the advanced, prototype, shape-shifting artificial intelligent human-like machine made of virtually indestructible liquid metal was keep on changing its body from one shape to another to deceive and kill his enemy. How it is possible for a machine to be artificially intelligent and behave like a human was the question popped up in my silly mind on those ignorant days. During those days, let alone the computers, even wired telephone lines were not common anywhere in our country and it was insane to think about an artificially intelligent machine which can go to the past from the future and kill the enemy by using his externally injected super power.
After 30 years, when the very existence of humanity is being threatened with deepfakes- the look alike of you and me- and the Artificial Intelligence are getting ready to rule the world with heightened level insanity, I bow down to the wisdom of James Cameron who had envisioned the power of artificial intelligence to kill the human by taking virtual shapes in a matter of seconds!
When Mr Sam Altman, the visionary who had unleashed the power of AI, is being removed from the board of OpenAI, a company which he has created to design an artificially driven world, for the mistake of opening up the cork of the bottle to let the genies out. The ChatGPT and other Open AI empowered tools will change the way we think and behave in a very near future but we have to pay a heavy price for that. We are living in a world where everything is getting virtual and the said dependence is being increased day to day basis. The AI will replace man with machines and will take over the humanity in all aspects, may be, with an exception for the logical thinking.
AI-Unchained is predicted to pose an existential threat to the human race. The removal of Sam Altman by the board of OpenAI citing compromised communications and unethical commercialisation of AI also pointing the fingers to that aspect. A day may come, due to the distrust in all the virtual imageries such a video calls, email communications, hologram etc, we have to travel all the way to other side to see the other person in real to have a confidential communication. We may have to log out the email servers and go back to stamped envelopes for our official communications, may have to remove all our files from the cloud to punch to a dilapidated box file and may have to ditch UPI to go back to crossed cheque leaves. It may be a wild imagination and an unnecessary fear, but I strongly feel that, AI is something that came from future to destroy the peace of the mankind . God Bless! and try to stay safe.
Bijoy Pulipra