In this blog post, we will explore in depth whether the unique value of humans is still valid amid concerns that human jobs and dignity are threatened in the age of AI.
“Beep, there is an 80% chance that your job will be replaced by artificial intelligence (AI) in the next 20 years.” When you enter your job into the Will Robots Take My Job? website, AI tells you the probability that your job will be replaced by AI. After AlphaGo defeated Lee Sedol in the Google DeepMind Challenge Match held from March 9 to 15, 2016, many people were filled with anxiety about the future. “Will AI take away my job?” “Will AI eventually surpass humans in all fields?” These concerns stem from anxiety that technological progress will undermine human dignity. But there is no need to worry. Even as technology advances, humans will still be recognized as dignified beings, and a world will come in which more people will feel happy. I will explain why below.
First, all technological advancements are for humans. Many people are worried that if AI takes away their jobs, they will fall into the ranks of surplus humans who are no longer worthy of respect as human beings. However, technologies such as AI, the Internet of Things (IoT), and big data are not actually being researched to take your job. These technologies are aimed at providing users with the functions they need anytime, anywhere. Of course, they may take some of your jobs, but AI is being researched for the benefit of people. Since the purpose of research is humans, these technologies will not take away human value even if they penetrate into our lives. This is because much of this technology will be used for your benefit.
However, many people, such as Yuval Noah Harari, raise questions. Let’s think about the process by which human dignity was recognized. According to Harari, the French Revolution’s Declaration of the Rights of Man was accepted when universal conscription was ordered. This was to give the people political rights to gain military and economic benefits. Similarly, women’s suffrage was guaranteed because women’s role in the all-out industrial war was important. The reason why all humans have equal rights is because the economic and political situation of the times required a lot of labor. However, in the future, AI will not require a lot of manpower. If mass unemployment occurs, the unemployed will be pushed out by AI and become surplus humans who have difficulty finding jobs. If the majority of these people become surplus, won’t the value of humans collapse?
No. Of course, it is true that the needs of the times have ensured that the masses and women have been guaranteed political rights. However, this is a narrow view of history. Let’s take a look at how human life has changed since the primitive age, not since the modern era. According to Jeremy Rifkin, a futurist, the worldviews can be divided into three categories according to the order of change in the worldview: the worldview of ancient Greece, the medieval Christian worldview, and the modern mechanistic worldview. Humans in primitive societies enjoyed a comfortable life without much labor. In a hunter-gatherer society, they only work 12 to 20 hours a week and enjoy playing, sports, art, and music in their spare time. However, modern people, who are obsessed with a mechanistic worldview, work 40 hours a week and take pride in taking two to three weeks of vacation a year. In the beginning, humans were not born to work. They started working because they had to adapt to the social environment. Therefore, AI will not make you a surplus human just because it takes away your job. Society is moving towards a life where you can work less and live like a human. Humans will adapt to this society again. Of course, it is clear that the new life will be a life in which humans can live more valuable than ever.
Second, organic algorithms will still be important because they have properties that cannot be explained by non-organic algorithms. The lives of organic algorithms cannot be explained by economic logic alone. Doctors sometimes give up their own interests and treat sick children in remote areas for free, and citizens are willing to donate money to charities for people they don’t even know. Various non-governmental organizations fight global warming and natural disasters almost without pay. If our lives were run solely on perfect economic logic, this would never happen and would be considered very stupid. However, humans gain value beyond economic activity by caring for others, empathizing with them, and helping them. These activities are not possible for non-organic algorithms.
But what if these emotions are simply electrical signals in the brain? Couldn’t an algorithmic process also cause these processes through electrical signals? Yuval Noah Harari summarizes the current scientific view in “Homo Deus” as follows.
1. Organisms are algorithms. All animals, including Homo sapiens, are a set of organic algorithms that have been naturally selected over millions of years of evolution.
2. The calculation of the algorithm is not affected by what material the calculator is made of. Whether the abacus is made of wood, iron, or plastic, two plus two is four.
3. Therefore, there is no reason to think that an organic algorithm can do something that an inorganic algorithm can never do or do better.
If emotions are so important, can non-organic algorithms make them feel emotions that are just electrical signals? Wouldn’t this solve all problems?
Unfortunately, no. Let’s say that non-organic algorithms like AI can control electrical signals to understand emotions. But they only end up feeling emotions. They will think in a perfect economic logic, so emotions cannot be the cause of their next action. Emotions are just a byproduct of some outcome, and they will not act for this. This characteristic will allow them to still retain the value of humanity.
We are living in a time of rapid change. But one thing that will not change is the value of humanity. The fact that humans are dignified and precious will not change in the future, and will be the reason for our existence in the non-organic algorithm. However, we should not be satisfied with this. Humans are still dignified, but that alone does not make human society abundant. The rest is up to us. Isn’t it time for everyone, whether you or I, to prepare for rapid change and prepare for the future with a keen eye?
