The
relevant part of the conversation went as follows:
Beddoes:
You’re sure that humans will no longer be in control in ten years’ time?
Musk: It is
unlikely in the same way that … If the difference in the intelligence between
AI and humans is vastly greater than the difference in intelligence between AI
and chimpanzees, it is hard to imagine that the chimpanzees would be in charge.
We are essentially an evolved form of chimpanzee.
I believe he meant “… vastly greater than the difference in intelligence between humans and chimpanzees,” implying that, compared with AI, the human race will become like the chimpanzees are with respect to us, and possibly worse.
My readers
might wonder why Musk’s prediction is relevant to this blog. Well, his notion
is so general that it could encompass teaching, learning, writing, and
educational administration. If AI will teach better and learn better than
humans, what will be the point of teaching, and more importantly, of studying?
Self-enlightenment? Leisure? Learners in higher education currently educate
themselves mainly to enter the workforce, but when the workforce is mostly composed
of robots, students may begin to question the value of their education. In
terms of writing skills, we can already see journalists, editors, and others wondering
what will become of their future. As for educational administration, including
both the academic side, such as requirement-setting for degrees, and the
non-academic aspect, such as human resources, it is not impossible to envisage
AI making more reasonable decisions and managing their implementation in
matters such as recruitment, screening, and evaluation. For example, AI could
spot and act upon conflicts of interest more readily than humans. A nightmare
for some current administrators, certainly, as they would likely become
redundant.
In the same
interview, Musk expressed optimism that we are moving into an era of abundance
where humans should be able to acquire whatever they need easily. Wealth would no
longer be important as money may become almost worthless when robots produce
more than what people need. Yet Musk’s chimpanzee metaphor remains powerful and may even be extended to include the possibility of regression in human
intelligence. For example, Kosmyna et. al. have reported that fewer neural
connections form in the brains of writers who depend on AI: “Over four
months, LLM users consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and
behavioral levels” (“Your Brain
on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for Essay
Writing Task”). Psychologists
were already sounding the alarm regarding declining IQs in those born after a
peak in 1975 in the developed world, as reported in Psychology Today
last year ( “The Rise of Homo Idioticus: Are We Getting
More Stupid?”):
We may no longer be Homo
sapiens—the “wise man.” Nor are we Homo economicus, the
supposedly rational actor in classical economics. Increasingly, we are
becoming Homo idioticus—a being defined not by wisdom or logic but
by emotional impulses, misinformation, and intellectual inertia.
It is
likely that AI is gradually promoting itself while demoting us. Time to pause
and reflect on where we’re all heading, wouldn’t you agree?
