What If Artificial Intelligence Prevailed?

In the dynamic landscape of 2023, one of the pivotal factors driving the ascent of technology company stocks lies in the prevailing optimism surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) and its anticipated impact. The effect of AI is set to unfold further in 2024.

However, the question that looms large is whether AI poses a threat to the job market, potentially disrupting the livelihoods of the majority of workers and employees starting from the upcoming year.

This inquiry has not only been posed by many observers, but has also been championed by tech magnate Elon Musk, who advocates for legislations to curb the proliferation of AI. Musk argues that machines, endowed with faster problem-solving and data processing capabilities, might ultimately turn against humanity.

Yet, the lingering question remains: is this assertion an exaggeration, or is it a plausible scenario?

Many viewpoints suggest that AI will obliterate the realm of asset management and financial markets, supplanting traditional practices.

However, such a perspective is inherently limited in comprehending the intricacies of both AI and human intelligence. AI fundamentally operates based on the quantity of input from historical information, employing statistical analysis to sift through and formulate logic.

Conversely, human relationships with the past are subjective, and depth of understanding is often confined to specific details. Human choices regarding issue details are frequently not driven by specific logical reasons, as they may be influenced by entrenched beliefs or unfounded suspicions.

Human behavior is often characterized by irrationality, yet within the realm of the human mind lies the capacity for logic. Consequently, many human opinions and thoughts prove unpredictable, even as human logical behavior pertains to specifics and details rather than adhering to the past as an absolute rule.

The intelligent and successful human mind engages with the past qualitatively, often inclined toward skepticism and criticism, in stark contrast to machines, which may struggle to delve into crucial details and rely quantitatively on the past, lacking a qualitative understanding even if equipped with logical reasoning.

Take, for instance, the divergence of human intelligence in predicting Federal Reserve policies—whether to raise, defer, or reduce interest rates—an inconsistency that reverberates through financial markets. Similarly, in the 2007 financial crisis, human intelligence varied in assessing the quality of mortgage assets, leading to the profound economic turmoil that shook markets.

In both crises, a minority sensed the impending danger early on and took preemptive action—a distinctly human trait stemming from the unrestricted and independent nature of the human mind.

Machines, on the other hand, struggle to transcend the average human estimates and often fall prey to errors. For instance, during the coronavirus pandemic, the lack of historical information posed a challenge for AI, resulting in predominantly speculative outputs and fears.

This highlighted the inadequacy of AI in developing suitable models for proposing optimal solutions in the absence of historical data.

AI represents a significant leap in human progress, streamlining traditional and routine tasks, mitigating some human errors, and expanding the scope for innovation and initiative.

The beauty of innovation lies in its maturation over time. While it is anticipated that average human lifespan will increase in the future, the peril of this intelligence lies in its potential to eliminate jobs requiring human initiative and interpersonal skills, potentially widening social disparities and global wealth gaps.

Plato’s ancient assertion that the elite use their intellect while the lower class relies on physical labor resonates through the ages, highlighting the enduring societal implications.

Ultimately, AI serves as an augmentation to human evolution rather than a threat. Therefore, humans must prioritize continuous education, recognizing that knowledge knows no age or bounds.

Humanity should break away from conventional thinking, critically evaluate the past, and, above all, remember to laugh, love, dream, and maintain optimism for the future.

At 80, Syrian Abdel Rahman Athab still holds on to hope of finding his son, missing for 11 years. He searched tirelessly—watching former detainees leave prisons, combing through hospitals, and finally, visiting suspected mass grave sites. Despite losing three other children, Athab clings to the hope of finding his son or at least laying him to rest.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights estimates that since 2011, about 136,614 people have been forcibly disappeared or arbitrarily detained. Of these, over 113,000 remain missing, leaving families in heartbreaking uncertainty.

The pain of Athab’s family began with the start of Syria’s revolutionary unrest. The father, who had six sons and two daughters, recalls with deep sorrow: “Four were engineers, and two were teachers. At the onset of the revolution, they joined protests against the regime, and I stood with them.”

By late 2011, three of his sons were killed, their bodies returned in disfigured remains wrapped in black bags. Athab buried them, held a mourning service, and, though devastated, accepted their deaths, seeing them as martyrs for Syria. “I found comfort knowing they were in a safer place,” he said.

However, just two years after losing his sons, Athab’s fourth child disappeared in Damascus. The remaining members of his family fled the country, leaving the father’s heartache to grow even deeper.

In his ongoing search for his missing son, Athab told Asharq Al-Awsat that he and his family have been tracing newly uncovered mass grave sites across Syria in the past month.

On January 4, local Syrian outlets reported that residents found a mass grave near the Ninth Division in the town of Sanamayn, located in the northern countryside of Daraa in southern Syria.

This discovery followed another mass grave found about two weeks earlier at “Al-Kuwaiti Farm” on the outskirts of central Daraa.

The area had been under the control of a militia linked to the military intelligence branch, and 31 bodies, including those of women and a child, were recovered.

Additionally, a team from Human Rights Watch reported visiting a site in the al-Tadamon neighborhood of southern Damascus on December 11 and 12, 2024.

They found a large number of human remains at the location of a massacre that took place in April 2013, with more scattered around the surrounding area.

What If Artificial Intelligence Prevailed?