The recent World Economic Forum’s “Davos Agenda” virtual summit highlighted several “Tech For Good” innovations that appeared to tout not just the utility, but the superiority of AI and robotics compared to humans.
One featured article chronicled what happened when AI and humans met in a strawberry-growing contest (spoiler alert: AI won). The AI and robotics takeover are not seen as a problem by the WEF, potentially rendering billions of humans “non-essential” in the eyes of elites. The organization sees the prospect as a sweet success, as it termed the AI strawberry victory, merely needing good governance: “Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies such as AI are forecast to deliver huge productivity gains – but need the right governance, according to the Global Technology Governance Report 2021.”
Another article depicted automated online censorship of human beings in a favorable light. It focused on an MIT study that showed the optimal placing of warning labels in “false” stories. According to the article, “The research helps inform tools that social media platforms could use, as they look for better methods to label and limit the flow of misinformation online.”
A piece on how AI might soon assist space exploration sounded eerily similar to “Hal 9000” from the sci-fi classic 2001: A Space Odyssey. An AI assistant called Cimon could soon be used to “reduce astronauts’ stress by performing tasks they ask it to do.” According to the WEF, handing over tasks to AI poses no risks, and should not be limited to earthbound applications. Designing missions, and overseeing the clearing of junk around Earth’s orbit, are just a few of the jobs that AI assistants like Cimon might perform.
