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We have already begun to delegate our self-destruction to artificial intelligence

In the context of the current war in Europe (one more!), of another massacre in the United States (another one!), and of a world convulsed by innumerable problems, from the increasing number of retrograde and oppressive laws to the immense capacity of many people to deny the undeniable, the question that obviously arises is: What is wrong with us?

An initial answer is that from the very beginning of humanity, be it the case of Cain and Abel, or Set and Osiris, or two anonymous cavemen, or whichever myth or narrative you prefer, human beings have always been dedicated to killing other human beings. And our globalized and technologized world is no different.

Another answer, increasingly widespread, is that, precisely because of globalization, it is inevitable to be in contact with “the others”, whoever they “others” happen to be. At the same time, these echo chambers that we call social networks spread and amplify messages of intolerance, hatred, and violence even inciting to violent actions. 

So, if we have always killed each other for the most ridiculous and unlikely reasons (or for no reason at all), and if we can now kill each other (and the entire planet) thanks to our scientific and technological "advances", in addition to unavoidable self-destruction, what’s next?

The recent answer offered to that question by Dr. Louis Rosenberg (a pioneer of virtual reality and other advanced technologies) is as amazing as it is revealing: we humans are about to delegate to a truly intelligent artificial intelligence the task of our destruction.

Were it not for Rosenberg's impeccable credentials (including being the creator of the first augmented reality system in 1992), such a claim would be ludicrous and easily dismissed. But, as Rosenberg argues, we are building an artificial general intelligence that from birth will know the human mind in detail, with not ethical guidelines. 

Rosenberg describes this artificial intelligence (which could be activated in a few years) as "an alien mind designed to understand everything about humans" and, therefore, "influence their beliefs and modify their opinions". That artificial mind is already being created and, according to this expert, there is no way to protect ourselves from it or to contain it.

We do not mean to be alarmist in sharing these observations, but it could be the case that, as Rosenberg says, the time to prepare for the arrival of a superhuman artificial intelligence has passed. In other words, I add, we are gestating a Golem that, contrary to the Golem of legend, does not know the difference between truth and death.

In short, in the same way that we have outsourced (delegated) to technology many of the functions that were previously exclusively human (social networks function as our external memory and as a global artificial brain), we now plan to delegate to our own not human offspring the task of ending humanity.

Even if that terrifying thought is just an illusion (although everything indicates that it is not), we still must rethink our future. 

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