Why KEPLAIR development shouldn’t “pause”

Here’s a bit of philosophy for you-all to ponder and respond to…

Much of the discourse around AI centers on loss of “jobs” or “work” for humans. I think these terms are misleading and indicative of a deep seated fear of freedom. What is threatened is our current system of paid employment as a means of distributing produced goods and services. This involves two interacting systems: a) the production of goods and services (wealth), b) the distribution of those goods and services. For most of human existence we have expended most of our energy producing enough wealth to ensure the survival of the next generation – – scarcity. We are now at an inflection point where we have the possibility of both surplus wealth and surplus human energy – – abundance. Sadly, most of humanity has lived and learned under conditions of scarcity. Many of us can’t get beyond the scarcity mindset and view societies that have evolved in abundance as “lazy” or “unmotivated”. Education has been the process we use to pass on this scarcity mindset. It can be equally powerful in helping us to learn to function under conditions of abundance.

KEPLAIR (Knowledge-based Environment for Personalized Learning using an Artificially Intelligent Recommender) is (or will be) an abundance engine. As a guide-on-the-side for independent learners, it distributes know-how for free. It relies on intrinsic human curiosity for motivation rather than external carrots and sticks. It is agnostic with respect to economic and workplace skills as compared to artistic or interest-driven skills. By refraining from setting goals for the learner, it promotes self-determination, an ability that humans may be born with but which is often dampened by the necessities of life under scarce resource conditions. It provides a platform for solo engagement along with both collaboration and competition at the discretion of the learner (not the parent, teachers, educational institution or employer). Strict privacy of personal data makes it impossible for would-be authorities to create competitive or shaming situations that might be used to control learner behavior.

IMHO, the biggest threat posed by AIs is the possibility that humans will program their scarcity mentality into them. AIs do not have “instincts” for self preservation in the way that biological beings do. A six-month pause in the AI development race may give us a chance to realize that the urge to race at all is an artifact of a world that no longer exists.

Cheers,

Liza