It often seems these days we've reached peak hype for artificial intelligence (AI), with ever more commentaries about how our world will be transformed by robots that are smarter than we are. Predictions seem to alternate between worlds in which our AI overlords decide we are expendable, and ones in which humans live ever healthier and more fulfilling lives.
But reading one of the most recent commentaries, just appeared in the Smithsonian, it was interesting to see how disengaged ideas about AI are from the existence of a physical environment. Apart from mentioning that drones might save us from climate change by reflecting incoming sunshine (which, sadly, wouldn't work), and a mention of Microsoft's "AI for Earth" program (which appears to be as much about business development as saving the Earth), there's no hint that if human life on the planet is transformed, that might mean something for the planet itself, and for all other species and our relations with them.
It makes one wonder: just what will AI mean for environmental studies and environmental history? And when we think about that question, can we get beyond simple technological determinism?
No comments:
Post a Comment