A Foreseeable Challenge
In conclusion, here is a quick look at a development that at first glance might seem to put human dignity in extreme peril. (Those with a distaste for speculation are invited to skip it.)
Futurists are warning that by midcentury we will likely be confronted with an unprecedented threat to what it means to be human--the advent of sophisticated thinking machines.19 It's one thing to use calculators that outperform us; it will be quite another to face appliances manifesting suprahuman intelligence. Picture a cute little gadget perched on your desk that, by any measure, is smarter than you are. We'll probably program such machines not to be condescending, but the knowledge that robots have taken over many creative tasks will clearly require some getting used to.
A glimpse of how we're apt to react to such a development is provided by looking at how we have responded to prior status demotions. Copernicus's contention that the earth circled around the sun--removing us from center stage--caused an uproar that lasted for centuries. Darwin's theory of evolution, which made us all descendants of apes, was initially scorned and continues to be rejected by some. If life is discovered in various stages of development on other planets, the effect will be to further undermine human claims to a central, unique role in the universe.
Through our previous humblings, however, people took some comfort in their presumed higher intelligence. How will it affect our identity if we're pushed off that pedestal? Realizing that the functions of mind--the last bastion of our supposed superiority--can be replicated by machines is reminiscent of the medical discovery that the heart, long seen as the seat of the soul, was simply a pump made of muscle. We've rarely handled such blows to our pride with grace.
Possessed of truly Promethean powers, yet faced with man-made creations that outperform us at what we see as our special talents, the inhabitants of a dignitarian world will find virtue in humility. After a few final displays of vanity, we'll probably make our peace with accepting the help of thinking machines much as parents reluctantly but ultimately accept advice from their grown offspring.
Smart machines with computation speeds that exceed currently available ones by a million-fold might well serve as the astronauts of the future, exploring worlds where our biochemistry is a handicap and theirs is an asset. The introduction of thinking machines would also provide a perfect opportunity for conducting the dignity impact studies on new uses of power discussed in chapter 2. And if proposals pass muster, we can further enlist the help of our silicon partners in projecting increasingly complex scenarios as we move forward.
Over time, what is most distinctive and precious about human beings could be preserved and incorporated into the machines that, with aid from our clever progeny, we may someday design to supersede us. Dignity will be challenged, yes--but expunged? Not by smart machines so long as we befriend them and make them our allies. If dignity is defeated, it will likely succumb at human hands in the way it has been most trampled upon in the past--through war.
For further background on the connection between rankism and indignity, listen to Rob Kall's interview with me here.
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