Project Vision 21

I still remember the not-so-distant time when we weren't enslaved by a smartphone as we are now, to the point where we panic at the thought of leaving the house without it. However, it seems that soon our dependence on artificial intelligence will become even deeper, though perhaps not as evident.

On December 19, 2023, in his personal blog (GatesNotes), Bill Gates said: "If I had to make a prediction, I would say we are 18 to 24 months away from reaching significant levels of AI use by the general population." Six months after those statements, if this prediction comes true, it means that by 2025, AI will be integrated into our daily lives.

However, we won't have to wait until the end of next year because, according to Gates, this year marks, in his words, “the beginning of a new era” or, if you prefer, “the next chapter of the world,” when, due to the acceleration of technological progress, the time between the emergence of a new technology (AI) and its popular use at all levels is minimized.

At the same time, we must recognize that not all of us are, or want to be, prepared for the moment when AI takes over our household devices, decides what we can or should see on social networks, diagnoses our diseases, supervises education, drives cars and other vehicles, acts as a coworker, and manages and controls our finances.

In other words, the day is approaching when artificial intelligence and associated technologies will cease to be a novelty, a toy for the rich, or a luxury for some, and will become an integral part of the functioning of modern society, with the promise (according to some) of improving our quality of life.

But this rapid, complex, unconsulted, and seemingly irreversible change can generate fear as we feel intimidated by something that appears out of our control but at the same time has the ability to control us. It’s not primarily about being displaced by AI or losing a job, but about the possibility that we will no longer be the agents of our own lives.

Furthermore, it is undeniable that (as happened with the Industrial Revolution), AI, developed and controlled by a handful of large corporations, exacerbates existing social inequalities, creating an even greater gap between those who have access to new technologies and those who do not. In this context, important ethical questions also arise about the perpetuation of biases by AI.

Will we have the individual and collective capacity to adapt to these rapid and challenging technological changes? Will we be able to create a collective understanding of AI? What new narratives will emerge to express our new way of being human, without falling into either triumphalism or technological determinism? We will soon find out.