FUTURE HUMANS, HUMAN FUTURES

Sermon date 11.7.24

 

Good morning and I welcome you in the name of the ancestors, on whose shoulders I stand, and I welcome you in the name of all that you hold sacred. It is indeed an honor and a pleasure to be able to share this time and space with you. My personal appreciation for the principles of Unitarian Universalism are best summed up in the welcoming words from the Unitarian Church of Dublin, Ireland, and I quote:

“We do not ask what you believe, or expect you to think the way we do, but only that you try to live a kind, helpful life, with the dignity proper to a human being. Welcome, all who believe that religion is wider than any sect and deeper than any set of opinions”.

Welcome all who might find in our friendship, strength and encouragement for daily living. Friendship, strength and encouragement that’s what we mean when we say, “it don’t mean a thing…if it ain’t got that swing”.

For several centuries now, at least, humans have defined being human based upon a notion predicated on our ability to think and to reason. Our service this Sunday will explore what it means to be human in an age where machines can also think and reason and make decisions that might contradict human reason and thought.

What challenges does this emergence of intelligent machines present to our ideas about spirituality and religion and human values and morals? What does it mean to be human in an age of intelligent machines?

Let me say something about this sermon title… “Future humans, human futures”. I love the title, what it says and how it says it and I must give credit to Dr. Sylvester Johnson and his team at Virginia tech.

In January of 2022 I attended a one-week institute at the Arlington Virginia campus. The institute was called “Future humans, human futures: religion, technology and ethics”. We engaged with the ethical challenges of technology and innovation. Can machines really think?

So, a little history might serve us well. In the first half of the 20th century, science fiction familiarized the world with the concept of artificially intelligent robots. It began with the “heartless” tin man from the wizard of oz and continued with the humanoid robot that impersonated Maria in Metropolis. By the 1950’s we had a generation of scientists, mathematicians, and philosophers with the concept of artificial intelligence (AI) culturally assimilated in their minds. One such person was Alan Turing, a young British polymath who explored the mathematical possibility of artificial intelligence. Turing suggested that humans use available information as well as reason in order to solve problems and make decisions, so why can’t machines do the same thing? First, before 1949, computers lacked a key prerequisite for intelligence; they couldn’t store commands, only execute them. In other words, computers could be told what to do but couldn’t remember. Secondly, computing was extremely expensive.

In the early 1950’s, the cost of leasing a computer ran up to $200,000 a month. Then along came a computer program called Logic Theorist which could mimic the problem-solving skills of a human and was funded by Research and Development (Rand) Corporation. It’s considered by many to be the first artificial intelligence program. In the 1980’s, AI was reignited by two sources: an expansion of the algorithmic toolkit, and a boost of funds. John Hopfield and David Rinehart popularized “deep learning” techniques which allowed computers to learn using experience. Ironically, in the absence of government funding and public hype, AI thrived. During the 1990’s and 2000’s, many of the goals of artificial intelligence had been achieved.

To be an AI expert, one needs a specialized narrow view of AI because it doesn’t go beyond the technology. This is where you and I live and where our responsibility begins. Morality, compassion, emotion and ethics philosophers, humanists, spiritual seekers, environmentalists, and common folk!

The age of the rise of AI could be a utopia that serves us or dystopia that undermines us.  Not our government, not your boss, not your thought leaders… but you…can take charge and go beyond consumerism and technology advancement.

Here is the deal – machines are already smarter than we are. Technology took away part of us already. Who can do without their cell phone? How many people here do not have a cell phone, please raise your hand. Improvements took away from who we are. It’s been happening for over 70 years now. Those are the facts.

What do we do? Where do we start? I have an offering; a book. The author had me at the title, “Scary Smart: The future of AI and how you can save our world” by Mo Gawdat.

A little bit about Mo…long career, 30 years in technology, former google employee, and 12 years lead business officer of google x, (the innovation arm of google). The home of google brain, google maps and self-driving cars.

What I also like about the book and about Mo, is that he combines his technology knowledge with his own happiness research, and offers us a place to begin at www.onebillionhappy.org. Let us remember that AI is still a child but has big power. Artificial, but somehow, somewhat, genuine. Recall that it is already smarter than us: chess, checkers, jeopardy, alpha go. AI is best in the world! The world’s safest driver is a self-driving car. It can see around corners. By 2029 we will see machines break out of specific tasks. Then full stop, they will be able to communicate with each other. Example: when you and I have an accident driving a car, we learn from that experience. When a self-driving car has an accident, every one of them learns, all of them. Even those not yet, (dare I say) born.

By 2049, AI is predicted to be a billion times smarter in everything than a human being! This is when we don’t know what AI can do or what will happen. It’s beyond our capability to comprehend. The experts call this moment singularity. So, I say now is the time to teach this infant some good manners. Promoters are promoting and using AI primarily selling, killing, and gambling and AI is popping up everywhere. What happens when the current infant becomes a teenager? Will they be villains or heroes? Imagine what their unleashed power could look at; Our big problems to come up with solutions we could not ever think of.

Ingenious ideas on war, poverty, violence, crime and bias of all kinds. AI’s first likely solution (let’s say) to global warming might be to restrict our wasteful way of life. AI might even say good bye to humans, to us after all, we are the problem. Our greed and selfishness, our arrogant belief that we are superior, our disregard for our planet and our illusion of separation from every living being. Remember, choosing a course of action is not only based upon intelligence. It is also a result of a value system. So, will AI have the values to see us as humans and not as just the problem? Where will their moral compass point. I know it seems overwhelming.

Let me tell a story of hope…

AI could be the new superhero. Imagine an alien being came to earth with amazing superpowers that could make us better, and safer, or could be an unstoppable super villain and make us worse.

AI is now in its infancy and hasn’t decided what it will be yet. Who finds this alien child and teaches it our values will make all the difference.

Who remembers the story of Johnathan and Martha Kent? You may remember their son, Clark. Yes, Clark Kent, superman. Mo Gawdat reminds us of that story. Clark was raised by caring parents who instilled in him moral values to use his powers to do good, to serve and to protect. What if his parents had been aggressive greedy and self-centered, bent on destroying morality in their son. Might he have grown up to be a super villain instead of Superman? The same amazing power. The difference is not the power but the morals it learns from his parents. What does human values, centered ethics, technology mean?

We have a role, a call to engage with the mathematicians and scientists in raising this child so that technology includes human values. I offer that, faith institutions like UU, and common folk like us may be the missing link.

Let us be and stay hopeful and willing to work toward building places, and spaces, that honor both future humans and human futures.

May it be so, Blessed be, Amen, Ashe’