Where Are The Protests?: An Interesting Prediction About The Future Social Climate Surrounding AI

Welcome to this week’s Deep-fried Dive with Fry Guy! In these long-form articles, Fry Guy conducts an in-depth analysis of a cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) development or developer. Today, Fry Guy dives into the future social climate surrounding AI and explores some wacky (but possible) scenarios. We hope you enjoy!

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Stephen Hawking famously remarked, “AI could be the worst event in the history of our civilization.” But if that is true, why aren’t we seeing massive AI resistance in the form of protests?

In this article, we are going to explore that question and make an interesting prediction about the future social climate surrounding AI. Most of what we discuss today will be hypothetical, but we hope to draw out some interesting perspectives on the future of AI and get you thinking about the future.

A PROTEST FOR EVERYTHING … EXCEPT AI

People in the United States love to protest for the causes they support. In recent years, protests have ranged across a wide span of topics and issues. For example, there was the Dakota Access Pipeline protest where environmentalists demanded a halt to construction on an oil pipeline. There were the Occupy Wall Street protests where demonstrators were outraged at the 1%-ers. And of course, there were the Black Lives Matter protests where activists demanded police accountability. These are only a few of the many major and minor protests that have spread across the nation for various causes.

As we know, there have been massive demonstrations and riots for a lot of causes over the years. Passionate people everywhere are not afraid to stand up for what they believe in. But that raises an interesting question: why hasn’t there been much outspoken and demonstrative pushback on AI and its rapid development?

Geoffrey Hinton, known as the “Godfather of AI,” quit his job at Google so he could publicly speak out against the technology he helped develop. Hinton has said there is a 10% chance that AI will lead to human extinction within the next three decades, calling it a “bigger threat than climate change.” In the long term, he thinks the odds of AI destroying humanity is on par with a “simple coin toss.” Additionally, Warren Buffett recently compared AI to the atomic bomb and stated that AI is like an “evil genie we may wish we’d never seen.” These warnings have been continually issued by experts and laypeople of all kinds. Dozens of AI leaders around the world even signed a statement, affirming, “mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority.” But there have still been little to no notable protests … yet.

THE BEAUTY OF AI

It’s hard to go anywhere without stumbling across AI. No matter where you turn or what you read, those two letters have more buzz than a beehive. In fact, the “AI” abbreviation was named the Collins Word of the Year for 2023.

Many people are bullish on AI, saying that it will help us cure cancer, do our housework, and that we will never have to work ever again. Some people are so hopeful in AI that they believe it will actually make us immortal.

Given the potential for AI to do so much good in the world, make mundane tasks easier, and enhance our everyday lives, it’s hard not to have a positive attitude towards its rapid development. A recent survey has shown that 68% of people are using AI to help them with their work. To most people, it seems like a godsend—a tool that can help them get their work done quicker, leading to things like more quality time with their families and less burnout. All in all, it seems to be making life just a little bit easier, which we all might appreciate.

Though most acknowledge AI might have some downsides, many right now are most concerned with how it can help them live an easier and more fulfilling life. Big tech companies are helping to contribute to this mindset. Although the power of AI to do things like create harmful deepfakes and replace jobs might worry some, tech giants like Nvidia, Meta, Google, and OpenAI want everyone to believe they have it all under control. In fact, they continually sign pledges to AI safety. Doesn’t that make you feel safe? Well, what these tech giants are not telling you is that despite all the positive AI can do, there are some good reasons to be worried about its development.

A GROWING DIVIDE

If some of the major concerns from AI experts turn out to be true, the days of AI sunshine and rainbows could soon turn south. If the critics are right, then jobs like coding, HR, truck driving, accounting, and much more could be fully replaced by AI, which means massive job losses for human workers. Those workers that once loved AI because it made their jobs easier will begin to despise it for taking away their livelihood.

Even if some of those who are laid off have the ability to find new jobs or up-skill, that process is easier said than done. And in the end, AI job displacement is going to get the majority of these people really, really mad. These laid off people might also begin to realize something else: the future of humanity itself will be controlled by a handful of trillion dollar tech companies via their AI technologies. The days of self-determination and the coveted “American Dream” could be over. Instead of free will and choice for every human to pursue their goals and make their own way, AI could determine every human’s pathway in life, whether we like it or not. And all of this will be under the shroud of “We’re doing this to make the world better place, so you must comply and do your part; otherwise, you’re harming the world.” Essentially, humans might be more like the pets to our AI overlord owners.

To some, this seems like a scary, unavoidable reality. But will this actually happen? That doesn’t seem to matter so much. Just as some believe AI will make us immortal, some believe this will be the reality of the future. Regardless of whether this scenario is possible or not, the fear of it happening alone will eventually drive people to see through the AI hype and fight against the technology.

Once this fear begins to set in, we might see a rise in anti-AI protest groups like Pause.ai, who has held protests at the doors of OpenAI headquarters among several other locations around the globe. It’s possible we might see massive protests as people feel the threat on their jobs and freedom. The headquarters of the top AI players like Nvidia, Google, Meta, and OpenAI could have groups shouting at their doors, and AI cars and gadgets might be smashed at demonstrations.

As AI development intensifies and opposition grows, people may begin to identify with one of two emerging groups: Pro-AI or Anti-AI.

The Pro-AI group will look down on their counterparts as regressive lunatics who are stuck in the past. They’ll tell them that AI is for the benefit of humanity and there is something wrong with you if you don’t support AI initiatives, like curing cancer. The Anti-AI group will do the same. They will look at the Pro-AI group as a bunch of corporate AI guinea pigs and puppets who have blinders on to the fact that AI will end humanity.

This divide could reflect the sort of clash we currently see between Republicans and Democrats, except this new divide will be supercharged, as it’s not just a political stance but a stance on human survival itself.

The AI divide might grow so large that we could even see these groups migrate to like-minded locations throughout the country. The Pro-AI group could choose to live by AI data centers, while the Anti-AI groups might choose to live off the grid, in the country, and as far away from electricity—AI’s lifeline—as possible.

LOOKING AHEAD

Over the next few years, when the sentiment on AI starts to turn sour for many, just remember: you might have to choose. Are you going to be Pro-AI or Anti-AI? Whatever you decide, just be sure to have your bags packed and the truck ready. You’ll likely either be moving to the middle of the woods or to the house next-door to Sam Altman or Elon Musk.

Just to be clear, this wild scenario might be overblown, but the direction seems entirely possible and the fears are real. Regardless of how society handles the rapid development of AI and replacement of human efforts, in our new world of AI, there is a lot of unknown … and people tend to get a bit crazy amidst the unknown.