Why the Future Doesn’t Need Us

Why the future doesn’t need us H Y W THE FUTURE DOESN’T NEED US At the end of the topic, the students must be able to: • Evaluate contemporary human experience in order to strengthen and enlighten the human person functioning in society • Suggest some solutions manipulating science and technology to identified global problems. • Identify the effects of GNR (Genetic Engineering, Nanotechnology, and Robotics) Technologies on modern society. H Y W THE FUTURE DOESN’T NEED US INTRODUCTION: Who is William Nelson Joy? (Better known as Bill Joy) • An American computer scientist and the co-founder and chief scientist of Sun Microsystems. • Wrote a provocative article for Wired Magazine entitled “Why the future does not need us?”. In this article, Bill Joy argued that human beings face the realistic possibility of extinction due to competition from intelligent robots, which are made possible by technological advances. H Y W THE FUTURE DOESN’T NEED US INTRODUCTION: • In his article he mentioned the following scenarios: • 21st century technologies (genetic engineering, nanotechnology, and robotics, collectively called GNR) are becoming too powerful that they can potentially bring about new classes of accidents, threats, and abuses. • These dangers are even more pressing as it does not require large facilities or even rare raw materials – knowledge alone can be harmful to humans. H Y W THE FUTURE DOESN’T NEED US INTRODUCTION: • The GNR poses much greater threats than previous technological development. • G – Genetic Engineering  the study of heredity and the variation of inherited characteristics • N – Nanotechnology  a part of science and technology dealing on the control of matter on the atomic and molecular scale • R – Robotics  deals with the design, construction, operation and use of robots, as well as computer systems for their control, sensory feedback, and information processing. H Y W THE FUTURE DOESN’T NEED US INTRODUCTION: • Genetics, nanotechnology, and robotics are three fields of study. We shall be able to reprogram our own biology as a result of the genetics revolution. This new era in nanotechnology will allow us to influence matter at the molecular and even atomic levels of organization. The robotics revolution will enable us to develop non-biological intellect that is superior to that of humans. • Overdependence on machines – if machines are given the capacity on their own (sentiency), it will be impossible to predict how they might behave in the future – The fate of mankind would be at the mercy of machines. H Y W THE FUTURE DOESN’T NEED US Benefits of GNR • SECURITY • Mentioned in the article that : • Machine-made decisions are more accurate than human-made decisions. • For example, when we go to the mall and check customers' belongings, the guard may accidentally miss detecting a metal or deadly weapon, especially if the perpetrator is very good at concealing it, but with the help of technology, people’s security has been tightened due to, for example, metal detectors. H Y W THE FUTURE DOESN’T NEED US Benefits of GNR • MEDICAL ADVANCEMENT • It will enhance the medical field, particularly in the discovery of cures and therapies for the illness. H Y W THE FUTURE DOESN’T NEED US The downside of GNR: • We as humans can become too dependent on technology, and humans will no longer have any duties. Being too technology dependent will disrupt the pattern of how society functions that will make people be at the bottom of society. • The journal likewise mentioned, “Human work will no longer be necessary, the masses will be superfluous, a useless burden on the system.” • It may also be out of control; because it is programmed, there is a possibility that it will self-replicate or create H Y W THE FUTURE DOESN’T NEED US The downside of GNR: • The problem with technology is that when it is not functioning properly, everything is affected; • Example: when the internet provider experiences a problem, all of our works and tasks that are connected to the internet will be affected. Everything is placed at a halt. • “The gray goo threat makes one thing clear: We cannot afford certain kinds of accidents with replicating assemblers. It is even possible that self-replication may be more fundamental than we thought, and hence harder—or H Y W THE FUTURE DOESN’T NEED US Basic summary of the Article written by Bill Joy. • Technology and humans should be balanced, that it is preferable to coexist with technologies rather than have technologies superior to humans. • We must proceed with extreme caution due to all of the possibilities that may occur in the future. • Technology should be used to benefit and improve human existence rather than to destroy it. • Finally, technology is good when employed with great meaning, goal, and purpose, but it is evil when used for power, dominance, and control.