Will technology save us or destroy us?

When we talk about technology, the participants in the discussion are usually divided into two opposing camps. Those who think technology will solve all of humanity’s problems and those who think that technology is our downfall. I am often asked for my opinion on this. My answer: neither.

(Reading time: 5 minutes – original title because of the pun: “Will technology make or break us?”)

Do we have a choice?

First, we need to look at technological progress in a historical context. We know, in general terms, that it is accelerating. And that it is probably exponential. I see technological progress as something that we cannot influence to any great extent. The reason for this is we, the creators of this technology, ourselves.

It is often said in discussions that we don’t always have to make our lives even more, even more comfortable, even further and even better. The truth is that we do have to.

Three things are responsible for this:

1. Our laziness that motivates us, instead of doing a tedious activity over and over again, to pause and invest time to make the whole process better. This is how we started using tools.
2. Our curiosity that makes us want to know more. Even if it’s just about Lady Gaga. It’s a drive that almost all people have. In sum, it drives humanity to go beyond its perceived limits and open up new spaces. Both materially and spiritually.
3. Our empathy, which leads us to replace a planned, rational approach with a value-driven approach. This effect is most impressive when it comes to caring for your own children. You can take on a lot in life. As soon as your own child is in danger, you throw all these resolutions overboard within seconds.

People make progress by developing technology that helps them to contribute to these three drivers.

Technology is a strand of evolution

Secondly, I see the technology we have developed as part of evolution. That sounds a bit strange at first, because we usually perceive technology as something unnatural. So let’s try a thought experiment: what if ants had developed technologically sophisticated tools? Let’s say small shovels and hoes. What would that be for us? Technology or nature?

Man’s self-image is such that he sets himself above the rest of nature. But if we take a step back and adopt a more neutral perspective, we have to perceive ourselves as living beings like everyone else. Consequently, what we create is part of nature. The mental separation of “technology vs. nature” is something we imagine for ourselves. It only exists in our heads.

Aggregation of information

I think the whole history of life, and arguably the universe, is essentially about aggregating information in a physical sense. The chances that we represent a “stage” in this process are quite high. Why is quite simple:

Biological evolution took around 3 billion years to evolve from the first organic structures to humans. We assume that further and further variants of life forms were released according to the try and error principle, so to speak, in order to test them. In simple terms, the aim is to create a code that, when deployed in the right environment, can generate an improved version of the code. This code is the DNA. An efficient information store. It contains basic information about the blueprint of the code. Whenever a new release is created, this DNA changes.

The brain of biological organisms can be viewed in a very simplified way as a self-learning system. We are only just learning how productively the brain is constantly learning. We see it at the beginning of a child’s life. The daily progress is incredible. DNA sets the structure and provides certain life-sustaining features. The organism learns the rest during its lifetime.

Biology becomes man’s “undoing”

A serious disadvantage of biological organisms in this context is the long “try & error” cycle. Since test data is everything for self-learning systems, humans in turn began to collect and store information. In this way, data that we need for learning could be passed on outside the biological sphere. This speeds up the process considerably, as learning data does not have to be acquired each time. It is no coincidence that our possibilities have multiplied since we have been able to store information in the form of books.

The aggregation of information has thus become decoupled from the biological cycle and is gradually taking the lead.

Within thirty years, we will have the technological means to create superhuman intelligence. Shortly after, the human era will be ended.

– “The Coming Technological Singularity” (1993) Vernor Vinge

There is a good chance that self-learning non-biological intelligence (read also organisms) will take over this technological leadership role, because they have the advantage of being able to fundamentally shorten learning cycles. We are talking about a post-human era. This is why replicating the computing power of a human brain is so relevant.

Man-machine complex

This is the point at which the fusion of machine and human becomes relevant. Because if we are not connected to the information, we run the risk of being left behind very quickly.

Artificial intelligence will not fight us because it simply doesn’t have to. It’s more as if humanity were standing on a platform and the express train of further development would leave without it.

However, I’m not sure if it will come to that. We have long since become a man-machine complex. As the whole of humanity or on a small scale – we form a unit. We trust an armada of machines every day. Be it the drinks machine or the life-support machine in the intensive care unit. And we are the ones who keep these machines running.

I think we will see the physical fusion of the biological organism with external technology in the future. It will start, or has already started, with intelligent prostheses for disabled people and will move on to augmented body extensions.

It will be crucial to create a direct neuronal link to the available information. This will not speed up the learning cycle as a whole. No, but it will be the only way for biological organisms to participate at all.

The end point of this development will be the overcoming of biological organisms. This does not necessarily mean that humanity as we know it is at an end. After all, there are many animals that still exist. They are designs that have not prevailed to the same extent as the faster ones.

On the other hand, we are guaranteed to see the transfer of biological intelligence into “machine” intelligence. So there could then be machine and organic humans.

“The time has come, he’s out of them all”

That’s what you’ll think of me now. I admit, it all sounds pretty crazy. But if you study the findings of research and the history of technological development in detail, you will realize that these conclusions are not completely wrong. I am not the first person to formulate such a relationship with technology. And just because something seems logical doesn’t mean it’s right. This applies in particular to discussions about values.

A lot will feel natural

The good thing about technological development is that it doesn’t happen overnight. People therefore have time to get used to new circumstances, integrate them into their culture and learn how to deal with them. However, as the cycles shorten, it must also be said that we have less and less time to do this. We are already noticing this and will be even more aware of it in the future.

And what is the answer now?

The answer to the question “Will technology make or break us?” depends on your personal point of view. You can give it to yourself.

My answer is therefore “it depends”. Because I have two points of view. One is that of today’s active, social human being who enjoys living and being in this world as we have created it. For this attitude, the development outlined is terrible because it ultimately means that people will no longer exist in their current cultural form.

The other point of view, that of an observer who is as neutral as possible and at most wants to document the passage of time, doesn’t find much that frightening about it. The world will continue to turn without humans. And the chances are high that the further development of intelligence will migrate from planet Earth and continue elsewhere. There must be more optimal places, physically, to aggregate information quickly.