Royal Challengers winning the elusive trophy, children being subjected to intense violence in Palestine and everything inbetween rests in my palm and changes at the instruction of my fingertip. I live this life with all these fighting to engage with my measuring mind. This wandering in the cyber space is fueled by fear leading to curiosity and sometimes curiosity leading to fear. This vicious cycle of fear and curiosity keeps me in the state of trance.
I feel if I stay long enough in this state of trance I will transition into being an algorithm myself. I guess this is what the corporations want. They want me to be a fully predictable entity as this makes them huge profits.
What they do not see is that they will start noticing the algorithm becoming unpredictable. Initially it will be amusing and as this gets more frequent and rampant, this artificial intelligence will become a common enemy for the rich and the powerful. I hope that at this point we all realise that the only use of intelligence is in service and not in making personal gains. This is the way I hope against hopelessness that clouds most of my days. Call me an optimist and I will not feel offended. A small pill of optimism to temporarily relieve you from the fever of despair.
Skanda S
Author
Skanda is an educator and a writer based in Mysore. He is a founding member of Centre For Conversations.
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