Most stories that imagine a world where artificial intelligence supersedes our own involve machines waging war on humanity. In these tales we become slaves, pets or a biological underclass to our mechanical betters. As companies plough more resources into generative AI, experts in the field are warning of the corrosive effect the technology might have on our civilisation. Long before we are forced to form guerrilla groups to take back the planet, there are some more present (but equally troubling) problems with which to contend.
We are currently at the start of a new era in technology. This one promises to be more revolutionary and disruptive than the invention of the internet, the smartphone or cloud computing. AI is already re-shaping things like education, publishing, and the arts. Soon it will deeply affect the things that sustain us as a civilisation. That is – law, democracy, human rights, and geopolitics.
