Artificial Intelligence technology is growing at an exponential rate. Rudimentary forms of AI have played a significant part in our lives for some time, but what happens over the next decade will fundamentally change the very fabric of society and the future of humanity.
There are currently many philosophers, engineers, intellectual thinkers and no doubt spiritual leaders aside from the governments of the world, who are currently wrestling with the rapid growth of AI and the overarching dilemma of how to ensure we build a superintelligence that is compassionate and human-friendly and works for the greater good.
As today’s guest puts it, these machines will represent the first players to create “a rupture in the fabric of human history.” The big question is, what are the implications of this when the potential scenarios that could evolve are endless?
“By 2049 AI will be a billion times more intelligent than humans.”
Mo Gawdat is an entrepreneur, author, podcast host, happiness expert and the former Chief Business Officer at Google X. He spent 30 years of his working life right at the epicentre of the technology industry with some of the most prominent organisations on the planet that included IBM and Microsoft, before spending over a decade at Google’s “moonshot factory” of innovation.
Mo points out that our long-lived superiority is about to change course, and we will no longer be the dominant intelligence on the planet. The really crazy part is this transition is already in the works and has gone past the point of no return.
The last time Mo joined us on the show we discussed how a number of leading figures in technology and academia are calling for an immediate pause in the development of the leading AI systems until the risks are properly understood.
However, Mo believes we are beyond the point at which this is an emergency and as things currently stand artificial intelligence represents a bigger and more immediate threat to life on this planet than climate change, warning that unless our governments act fast, the consequences could be devastating.
Mo is well-placed to weigh in on the conversation. As an entrepreneur, he has co-founded over 20 businesses and served on the board of a number of technology platforms. And, after the tragic loss of his son Ali in 2014, he turned his attention to researching the key to happiness, writing the bestselling book – Solve for Happy: Engineer Your Path to Joy.
His mission became simple in premise, but challenging at large: to help one billion people become happier, inspired and living with purpose. From here he created the hugely popular podcast – Slo Mo – where through his conversations with great minds, he explores the profound questions and obstacles we all face in the pursuit of a joyful life.
It is exactly this kind of deep thinking and concern for humanity, coupled with unparalleled experience in the world of technology, that makes Mo such a rational and well-informed candidate to discuss the potentiality of AI and what the future holds.
In 2021, Mo released his second book, Scary Smart: The Future of Artificial Intelligence and How You Can Save Our World, where he takes a deep dive into the most worrisome aspects of this groundbreaking moment for civilisation while exploring a roadmap for humanity’s co-existence with AI.
The book has become more relevant than ever as the world realises the potential of technologies such as ChatGPT, and Mo argues that we need to approach AI with caution while emphasising the importance of human values in guiding its development.
Mo believes that AI is putting humanity at risk and to get people’s attention we must ultimately present the certainty that we’re all “screwed”. He points out that technological advancement is all too often sold to us as problem solving, but in reality, it’s designed to make money.
Mo says that humanity’s greed is affecting the innocent and calls it the ultimate top level of stupidity when someone’s life is affected by the actions of others without having a say.
“As we compete commercially and politically to create superior machine intelligence, AI will sooner or later become smarter than we are. That is inevitable.”
Mo is also the co-founder of Unstressable where the goal is to help one million people avoid stress, anxiety and burnout every year. And as burnout may become a thing of the past due to AI taking over the workforce, the other two symptoms might reach unprecedented levels!
I love these conversations with Mo. He’s an expert who’s worked in the beating heart of the technology world, and knows better than most the scale of upheaval and turmoil this technology could bring to our lives. He also brings a unique perspective on the intersection of technology and happiness, and focuses much of his time on finding ways to help people cope with the stresses and strains of modern life.
Mo has inspired millions of people around the world, and I can’t wait to get his take on what our future looks like and the myriad of ethical dilemmas the rise of the machines will bring.
“If you want kids, I would definitely consider thinking about that. Wait a couple of years.”
Trailer
Watch the trailer for this exclusive video interview with Mo Gawdat:
Download clips
A number of clips from this exclusive interview are now available to download, share and repost. Spread the word: grab these clips today!
- The AI Revolution – An unrecognizable world by 2029
- The unstoppable rise of AI and the looming era of AI domination
- Human-level AI – Can we and should we?
- The Compute Power Revolution – Unleashing AI possibilities we couldn’t achieve before
- The breakthrough moment of large-scale brain simulations for machine learning and AI
- The AI Advancement – An Oppenheimer moment in technology
- AI is going to be the last human innovation
- Avoiding AI development pitfalls – The 3 No’s
- It’s not the superpower that determines if AI is good or bad, but the ethics
- Users will be the Adoptive Parents that will shape the future of AI
- How to foster a healthy perception of humanity during the AI development
- AI in the wrong hands – Unleashing disaster upon disaster
- Do we need AI if only for more productivity and financial gain?
- How does AI redesign the fabric of society?
- The potential risks of decentralized AI
- Parenthood is a fast-changing society
- AI will have the power to shift minds for good or evil
- You have no idea how far we’ve come with AI development
- Navigating the rough path to Utopia
- The moral responsibility of AI
