Machine Learning is Humanity's greatest invention.
It's what the hundreds of thousands of years of exponential tech advancement have led up to.
But will it be our downfall?
People are scared:
- "I'll lose my job!"
- "What'll be the purpose of life?"
- "I don't want to live in a world where there is nothing else to discover."
- "I'm scared of who will be in control of such powerful intelligence."
- "What if it overthrows us?"
The Transition will be Smooth
The Transition to a fully automated, abundant world won't happen with the flick of a switch—people will be slow to adopt.
We'll start to see a decrease in average income and jobs, since they could just as easily be done by AI.
With that decrease in income and jobs also comes with a decrease in prices, too.
With a small investment of a couple of labor robots, a company can produce a lot of anything for free.
To be competitive, they'll decrease prices drastically, to maybe a couple of cents for goods that, today, cost hundreds of dollars.
This will counteract the decrease in jobs and income: less money + less prices = same affordability, but increasing wealth inequality.
After the Transition
The wealth inequality will be immense, but it means close to nothing. Everyone will be able to afford what they want and need, thanks to open source/accessible AI and rich people who donate miniscule fractions of their wealth.
"What'll be the purpose of life?"
Maybe it's to do whatever you want, or maybe the purpose is so abstract that only hyper-intelligent AI will figure it out. Regardless, there will be a purpose, and we'll know it.