“Sapiens” is the best-selling book in the world. Pro. Yuval Noah Ferrari is the author.
Yuval Noah Harari, professor and historian at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said that AI can also liethis is one of its greatest dangers. AI also has many benefits, but there are concerns that humans could use it for malicious purposes.
Harari spoke exclusively with Romesh Sahu of Indianewsget about how quickly the world is changing thanks to AI. highlights from the conversation…
1. Do you call AI “extraterrestrial intelligence”?
Artificial intelligence is the literal meaning of AI, but I call it extraterrestrial intelligence because artificial means we create and we control, but the specialty of AI is that it can learn by itself and bring continuous changes. The AI algorithm develops on its own.
Now the engineers who create the AI are unable to say on what basis it makes its decisions. Thanks to AI, we are actually creating another species, like people from another planet!
2. AI is in its infancy, how advanced will its future be?
We’re excited to see ChatGPT or other AI tools, but it’s just the beginning. Metaphorically we can say that in terms of AI we are currently amoebas, dinosaurs are yet to come. The process of going from amoeba to dinosaur to human took billions of years, but at the lightning speed with which AI is developing, it will only take a few decades for it to become a dinosaur. No one knows what power AI will reveal in the next 20 years.
3. Can AI also lie?
Yes, this is one of its greatest dangers. When OpenAI launched GPT-4, to test it, they asked it to solve a CAPTCHA puzzle. GPT was unable to do this. The researchers gave him access to a web page called TaskRabbit. GPT gave the job to someone by lying about being blind. The engineers who created the algorithm were also surprised to see how it learned to lie on its own.
The Hindi version of Harari’s new book ‘Nexus’ is published by Manjul Prakashan.
4. How much will this change things?
AI also has many benefits, but there are concerns that humans could use it for malicious purposes as it is a powerful technology. This could increase inequality around the world. Whichever countries have AI expertise will lead the world. In the current situation, only two countries are ahead in the AI race: America and China.
Both will have excessive military power. Maybe in the next 5 years, AI could make the entire world’s conventional military completely obsolete! Tomorrow, when there are fully autonomous weapons, existing warplanes, ships and tanks will become scrap metal.
5. Are there still fears that AI will eliminate jobs?
Yes, many types of jobs will be destroyed by AI. Who knows, maybe tomorrow AI will write a better book than me. GPT writes better answers than most researchers at my university. Even though there will be jobs despite AI, you will have to constantly change and stay looking for jobs.
This will be the biggest challenge for humans because learning a new profession every two to three years is a very difficult task for us humans. In this case there is competition with your machine and this will cause tension.
6. How do smartphones and social media affect humans?
I rarely use the cell phone. One of the reasons for this is privacy, as we are constantly monitored via AI. The second reason is that mobile influences our decisions. The algorithm learns our weaknesses, how to get our attention, how to sell us things. People who parade around all day with their cell phones in their hands don’t have control of their minds. I don’t let anyone intrude on my mind, I read books instead of scrolling through social media all the time.
7. How do you stay away?
Like eating too much, especially junk food is not good for your health. Likewise, a lot of information is not good for the brain and we get this unwanted information from social media. More information does not mean more knowledge. It takes time to digest food, so give your brain time to digest the information. I take the time to digest the information.
When it comes to information, I go long and fast, so I can detox my mind of all unwanted information. Since I just received a lot of information at once, I will now fast on it. For this, I will go to do Vipassana meditation in Mumbai. I also meditate 2 hours a day.
8. You come from Israel, what can be the solution to the ongoing war with Hamas?
The problem with the Israeli-Palestinian issue is that both countries are in complete denial of each other. There will only be peace when both governments accept that the other side also has the right to live and exist. When we accept these two truths, the problem of Israel and Palestine will resolve itself.
9. The solution will only come by trusting humans
More than developing AI, we need to invest more in mutual trust as human beings. AI cannot keep peace between us humans. We invest a lot in AI, but we invest nothing in the development of our own minds and peace. Talk to leaders of big companies, they are very busy creating technology, but they don’t have time to develop their minds and brains for brotherhood, love, etc.