There are reports published recently stating that in the coming decades there is a possibility that AI will become so powerful that it will annihilate mankind. This is very alarming news and quite a number of well-known experts, including some Nobel Laureates have expressed this fear.

AI is improving exponentially and this trend was predicted almost 5-10 years ago when a senior Google expert had said that there are signs that it is becoming a sentient being. Since then, there have been many signs that it may get out of the control of humans since it is evolving on its own.

AI is being used in all walks of life - for example in doing homework, writing essays, articles, solving complex problems, writing poetry, and in designing large numbers of new innovations, including drugs, new chemical molecules, helping in agriculture, industrial equipment design, etc. Hence, it is becoming a very important and integral part of modern-day human existence.

AI is a scientific and technological tool. Like all such tools it is a two-edged sword. Thus, it can be used for the benefit of mankind and at the same time in wrong hands it can also harm us.

An Evolving System

However, AI is different from other tools because it is not a static system and is continuously evolving, and sometimes without the help of humans. So, we are not sure how it may react to certain inputs and conditions in future. 

There is also a fear that since all our endeavors like banking, interconnected power grids, information infrastructure, etc. are now mostly controlled by smart AI systems  - which most of the times are running in autonomous mode - a rogue AI can play havoc with these systems and will create large scale disruption in our daily lives.

There is a thermodynamic principle which states that systems which are very complex, with lots of information and hence are in a far-from-equilibrium state, can suddenly evolve or branch out into a new form or structures. AI is evolving according to this thermodynamic principle, also called chaos theory.  

That is how nature evolves and this branching into new species (as explained by the chaos theory) show how systems evolve from chaos. This spontaneous evolution of AI is what the AI experts are afraid of.  

A Malicious Code?

Their fears may be true to some extent but let us examine them.

Any entity which tries to protect itself and fights for its survival from forces and predators out to destroy it does so out of fear. AI is not a living or conscious being and hence is not afraid. This, one feels, is a fallacy in the whole argument that AI will try to protect itself and annihilate humans out of fear.

But a plausible scenario about fear of AI could result when a rogue human coder may put in a malicious code (out of mischief ) in this far-from-equilibrium AI system and start a chain of events which may destroy the system.  AI on its own cannot do so, since it is not a conscious entity and hence cannot have the emotions of mischief.

Mindset of a Caveman

This points to a very fundamental problem presently with mankind. Mankind is playing with fire and developing technologies with a mindset of a caveman with all his insecurities, fears, jealousies and envy.  This mindset will only produce destructive technologies, and with AI (about which we may not have any clue or control) it will be lethal for mankind.

What we therefore need is a spiritual growth and progress which will give us wisdom or 'vivek' (spritual awareness) to use these technologies judiciously. Only then will we produce a safe world and with a spiritual mindset it may also help us in evolving technologies better and faster.

(The writer, an IIT and US-educated Indian spiritual engineer and rural development pioneer,  a 2022 Padma Shri award winner, is the Director, Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute (NARI), Phaltan, Maharashtra.  He can be reached at anilrajvanshi50@gmail.com/@anilraj24.bsky.social)