Tension Between Organic Life and Inorganic AI Systems

Humanity faces a critical choice between adapting to relentless AI demands or reclaiming organic cycles of life.

### The Tension Between Organic Life and Inorganic Systems: A New Era of Existence
* 🌍 We are currently experiencing a tension between **organic beings** and an ever-increasingly **controlling inorganic digital system**.
* 🕰 As organic entities, humans live by **natural cycles of activity and rest**, contrasting sharply with the relentless nature of algorithms and AI that operate **continuously without the need for downtime**.
* 💼 The pressure to constantly adapt to this always-on environment transforms life into a **perpetual job interview**, where past actions can **resurface at any moment**.
* 📉 In contrast, traditional markets still operate on organic schedules, as evidenced by Wall Street's hours, which highlight the **difference in operational rhythms** between humans and machines.
* 😨 Conversations with tech leaders like Sam Altman reveal a shared fear among them regarding the **potential destructive power** of the technology they are developing.
* 🤔 While many express a genuine concern for humanity's future, there is an underlying **pride and hubris** in believing they can responsibly manage the evolution of AI, which may mark a **significant turning point** in the history of life on Earth.
* 🦠 The emergence of AI represents the beginning of **inorganic evolution**, with current developments being merely the "**amoebas**" of this new evolutionary process, suggesting that the **full scope of AI's potential is yet to be realized**.
* 🔍 As we stand at this inflection point, the actions of figures like **Elon Musk and Sam Altman** could define a pivotal moment in the universe's timeline, marking the transition from **organic to inorganic life**.

- Part of what's happening now in the world is this kind of tension between organic animals. We are organic animals and an inorganic digital system, which is increasingly controlling and shaping the entire world. Now, part of being an organic entity is that you live by cycles: day and night, winter and summer, growth and decay. Sometimes you are active, sometimes you need to relax, you need to rest. Now, algorithms and AIs and computers, they are not organic. They never need rest. They are on all the time. And the big question is whether we adapt to them or they adapt to us. And more and more, of course, we have to adapt to them. We have to be on all the time. So the new cycle is always on. And everything we say, even when we are supposedly relaxing with friends, it can be public. So the whole of life becomes like this one long job interview, that any stupid thing

you did in some college party when you are 18, it can meet you down the road 10, 20 years later. And this is destructive to how we function. You even think about the market. Like Wall Street, as far as I know, it's open Monday to Fridays, 9:30 to 4 in the afternoon. If on Friday at five minutes past 4, a new war erupt in the Middle East, the market will react only on Monday. It's still running by organic cycles. Now, what would happen to human bankers and financiers, and so, what is happening, when the market is always active you can never relax. - Have you talked to folks like Sam Altman who runs OpenAI or the folks at Microsoft, I know Bill Gates was a big fan of your books in the past, or the folks at Google? What do they say when you discuss this with them and do you trust them as humans when you've met them?

Do you go, I trust you, Sam Altman. (audience laughing) - Most of them are afraid. They understand-- - Afraid of you, or afraid of AI. - No, afraid of what they are doing, afraid of what is happening. They understand better than anybody else the potential, including the destructive potential of what they are creating. And they are very afraid of it. At the same time, their basic schtick is that, I'm a good guy and I'm very concerned about it. Now you have these other guys, they are bad. They don't have the same kind of responsibility that I have. So it would be very bad for humanity if they create it first. So I must be the one who creates it first. And you can trust me that, that I will know, I will at least do my best to keep it under... And everybody is saying it. And I think that to some extent they're genuine about it.

There is, of course, also this another element in there of extreme kind of pride and hubris that they are doing the most important thing in basically not just the history of humanity, the history of life. - Do you think they are? - They could be, yes. If you think about the timeline of the universe, at least as far as we know it. So you have basically two stops. First stop, 4 billion years ago, the first organic life forms emerge on planet Earth. And then for 4 billion years, nothing major happens. Like for 4 million years, it's more of the same, it's more organic stuff. So you have amoebas, and you have dinosaurs, and you have humans, but it's all organic. And then here comes Elon Musk or Sam Altman and does the second important thing in the history of the universe, the beginning of inorganic evolution. 'Cause AI is just at the very, very beginning.

of its evolutionary process. It's basically like 10 years old, 15 years old. We haven't seen anything yet. GPT-4 and all these things, they are the amoebas of AI evolution. And who knows how the AI dinosaurs are going to look like. But the name on the inflection point of the history of the universe, if that name is Elon Musk or that name is Sam Altman, that's a big thing. - [Narrator] Want to dive deeper? Become a Big Think member and join our members-only community, watch videos early and unlock full interviews.

Living as a human in an “always on” digital world | Yuval Noah Harari

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The Tension Between Organic and Inorganic Systems

There is a growing tension between organic humans and the ever-active inorganic digital systems, like algorithms and AI.

This shift is forcing humans to adapt to a constant cycle of activity, blurring the lines between work and relaxation.

The always-on nature of these systems is disrupting traditional organic cycles, such as those in the market, leading to a perpetual state of stress and unease for individuals.

The Fear and Responsibility of AI Creators

AI creators are deeply aware of the potential and destructive power of their work, leading to fear and concern.

They often position themselves as responsible actors, claiming the need to create AI first to prevent others from doing so.

Despite their fears, many of them genuinely believe they can manage the risks associated with AI development.

The Impact of AI on the Evolution of Life

The speaker discusses the pride and hubris of figures like Elon Musk and Sam Altman, suggesting they may be playing a crucial role in the history of the universe.

They highlight the timeline of life on Earth, with organic life dominating for 4 billion years before the emergence of AI.

The speaker argues that AI represents the beginning of inorganic evolution, marking a significant shift in the history of life.

AI is still in its early stages, with models like GPT-4 being compared to amoebas in its evolutionary process.

The future of AI is unpredictable, with the potential for "dinosaurs" to emerge.

Key figures like Elon Musk and Sam Altman are seen as significant influencers in this evolution.