The Era of AI... maybe
posted 10 hours ago #
YouTube loves to suggest videos to me from big thinkers talking about big issues and how history can provide us with a lens to view both the problems and the possible answers. They are often 35minutes long and I almost never click on them. I want to be the kind of person that clicks on them and devotes 35 minutes of concentrated listening to them but, turns out, I'm not that guy.
So when a video with a thumbnail that says "This Changes Everything" and claims to be about why 2025 is the most pivotal year in our lifetime comes across my feed, I was skeptical. Fortunately the stars were aligned so I tapped on through and was treated to a delightful 15-minute history lesson from early WIRED contributor Peter Leyden about the three significant eras of technological advancement that we've most recently seen - Post-war, Gilded Age and Founding Era. Specifically he talks about the cadence of how they occurred, the similarities they contain with our present situation and, most importantly, what he foresees coming ahead - the Era of AI.
He cites that advancements in Artificial Intelligence, Clean Energy and Bioengineering are the driving forces to a whole new paradigm for the planet. His reasoning is hard to argue with! I found the entire piece to be educational and exciting. Humans love to see patterns in things and maybe he's right on this one?
Truthfully, the final takeway is a hard pill to swallow. Leyden predicts we are moving away from a model of Nation States into one of Global Governance. On the one hand, you could look to Star Trek to envision that being a good thing. On the other hand, you could quickly see how that is highly problematic. There's problems with all of the major arguments he makes - AI's impact on the economy, Bioengineering's impact on the promotion of eugenics and a Clean Energy argument that may be flawed data.* It's easy to poke holes and be a pessimist! I am no stranger to it myself. But I choose to step back and try to view these things on a long timeline of eras and, hopefully, they'll be the levers toward better living for everyone. Worthwhile optimism.**
* not sure on this but he makes the argument that Clean Energy is based on infinite resources. Car batteries are not based on infinite resources, they are the new oil afaik..
**ALSO worth noting, the aspect ratio on this video is WILD. If nothing else, that should bring you some pleasure..
So when a video with a thumbnail that says "This Changes Everything" and claims to be about why 2025 is the most pivotal year in our lifetime comes across my feed, I was skeptical. Fortunately the stars were aligned so I tapped on through and was treated to a delightful 15-minute history lesson from early WIRED contributor Peter Leyden about the three significant eras of technological advancement that we've most recently seen - Post-war, Gilded Age and Founding Era. Specifically he talks about the cadence of how they occurred, the similarities they contain with our present situation and, most importantly, what he foresees coming ahead - the Era of AI.
He cites that advancements in Artificial Intelligence, Clean Energy and Bioengineering are the driving forces to a whole new paradigm for the planet. His reasoning is hard to argue with! I found the entire piece to be educational and exciting. Humans love to see patterns in things and maybe he's right on this one?
Truthfully, the final takeway is a hard pill to swallow. Leyden predicts we are moving away from a model of Nation States into one of Global Governance. On the one hand, you could look to Star Trek to envision that being a good thing. On the other hand, you could quickly see how that is highly problematic. There's problems with all of the major arguments he makes - AI's impact on the economy, Bioengineering's impact on the promotion of eugenics and a Clean Energy argument that may be flawed data.* It's easy to poke holes and be a pessimist! I am no stranger to it myself. But I choose to step back and try to view these things on a long timeline of eras and, hopefully, they'll be the levers toward better living for everyone. Worthwhile optimism.**
* not sure on this but he makes the argument that Clean Energy is based on infinite resources. Car batteries are not based on infinite resources, they are the new oil afaik..
**ALSO worth noting, the aspect ratio on this video is WILD. If nothing else, that should bring you some pleasure..