The header of the Center for Humane Technology’s website prominently features a disturbing quote from sociobiologist Edward O. Wilson: “The real problem of humanity is the following: we have Paleolithic emotions, medieval institutions and godlike technology”. Co-founders Tristan Harris and Aza Raskin, known for their roles in “The Social Dilemma”, a widely viewed social media documentary in 2020, deliver an equally unsettling message in their talk “The A.I. Dilemma”, saying that the upcoming 2024 elections may be “the last human elections”. They assert that while humans will still play a role, whoever has the most computing power will win.
The real problem of humanity is the following: we have Paleolithic emotions, medieval institutions and godlike technology.
Edward O. Wilson
In a landscape where the internet is saturated with content produced by chatbots, influencers generated by “text-to-image” AI software, and deepfakes featuring influential political figures engaged in uncertain activities - whether facing arrest, embarking on a spiritual journey to India, or donning an oversized white Balenciaga-style puffer jacket - the intersection of computational power and firepower is increasingly evident.
Some find solace in viewing GenAIs as mere tools, clinging to the belief that we can always “pull the plug”. But in the midst of this reassurance, we are witnessing a relentless sprint toward increasingly complex management of politics and society, with outcomes that remain both unknown and beyond our control.
View gallery
Negotiators in the European Parliament and Council have recently reached an agreement in drafting the “Artificial Intelligence Act,” a regulation that “aims to ensure that fundamental rights, democracy, the rule of law and environmental sustainability are protected from high-risk AI,” kicking off the long process of voting and approvals. Meanwhile, in the U.S., current regulations primarily rely on self-regulation, with commitments made after the June White House meeting attended by Biden, Harris, and seven invited companies: Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection, Meta, Microsoft, and OpenAI.
The initial impression suggested a government apparatus struggling to keep pace with technology (“medieval institutions and divine technology”). However, the online sphere buzzed with a variety of reactions, emotions, and creations - “Paleolithic” reactions, uniquely our own, and therefore exceptionally original. Once again, the human species demonstrated its remarkable adaptability. Professionals transformed themselves into “prompt engineers” and “syntographers” to protect their jobs, educators revamped their teaching methods by replacing written assignments with ethical debates such as “Students vs. ChatGPT”, and artists sought to regain control of their art by creating personalized GenAI source datasets made possible by Stable Diffusion.
In the strange and unknown future that lies ahead, effective dialogue and cooperation between people may prove crucial. A notable example is the four-month strike by Hollywood actors and screenwriters that ended in November. This effort protected their images and creations from unauthorized use in GenAI datasets and resulted in a significant historic minimum wage increase. Knowing the technologies at our disposal is the first step towards adaptation, and today we contribute with a gallery of the ten digital realities that changed 2023. Enjoy the read.
Opening image: The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch in a GTA6 aesthetic, prompted on Midjourney V5.2