People are beginning to feel the walls closing in. As computers start learning on their own, we all feel a sense of doom. It would not be very hard for a truly intelligent and efficient system to defeat the large ,sloppy and corrupt thing we’ve got going now. As where does that leave us ? Will we be demoted into the role of farm animals or pets ?
This is a real and pressing question.

If you have ever played computer chess then you know the advantage the computer has in being able to think ahead. While my tiny brain is getting overwhelmed in choosing my next move the computer is analyzing thousands and determining which will work best. The only way I can beat the computer is by handicapping it, and rolling down the skill level.

So I would imagine one of the biggest ventures of our time is quantifying human behavior. Breaking human choices into some kind of a spreadsheet a little like a chessboard will guarantee a win for AI. Let’s say society needs more engineers. Well, AI has already determined the most likely candidates through DNA libraries , now it must only effect the rewards and punishments available to each potential engineer to steer them into their assigned slots.

The only wild card I can see would be alcohol and drugs. Things that make people act unpredictably might throw a bit of a ringer into the control process. I’m sure everyone has known friends who have done totally irrational things while high or drunk. In a scenario where your brain becomes a bit like the old Magic 8 Ball, where random ideas resurface from the sub-conscious would give humans a way to escape their heartless but infinitely more intelligent ruling computers.

It’s a bit like the Abraham Cloud song, Same Boat.” We’re all in the Same Boat, and I think we sprung a leak. We appear to be sinking. Better pour another drink.”