Es gibt einen Weg in die Freiheit

The New Luddite Challenge
First let us postulate that the computer scientists succeed
in developing intelligent machines that can do all things
better than human beings can do them. In that case
presumably all work will be done by vast, highly organized
systems of machines and no human effort will be
necessary. Either of two cases might occur. The machines
might be permitted to make all of their own decisions
without human oversight, or else human control over the
machines might be retained.

If the machines are permitted to make all their own
decisions, we can't make any conjectures as to the results,
because it is impossible to guess how such machines might
behave. We only point out that the fate of the human race
would be at the mercy of the machines. It might be argued
that the human race would never be foolish enough to
hand over all the power to the machines. But we are
suggesting neither that the human race would voluntarily
turn power over to the machines nor that the machines
would willfully seize power. What we do suggest is that the
human race might easily permit itself to drift into a position
of such dependence on the machines that it would have no
practical choice but to accept all of the machines' decisions.
As society and the problems that face it become more and
more complex and machines become more and more
intelligent, people will let machines make more of their
decisions for them, simply because machine-made
decisions will bring better results than man-made ones.
Eventually a stage may be reached at which the decisions
necessary to keep the system running will be so complex
that human beings will be incapable of making them
intelligently. At that stage the machines will be in effective
control. People won't be able to just turn the machines off,
because they will be so dependent on them that turning
them off would amount to suicide.

On the other hand it is possible that human control over
the machines may be retained. In that case the average
man may have control over certain private machines of his
own, such as his car or his personal computer, but control
over large systems of machines will be in the hands of a
tiny elite--just as it is today, but with two differences. Due
to improved techniques the elite will have greater control
over the masses; and because human work will no longer
be necessary the masses will be superfluous, a useless
burden on the system. If the elite is ruthless they may
simply decide to exterminate the mass of humanity. If they
are humane they may use propaganda or other
psychological or biological techniques to reduce the birth
rate until the mass of humanity becomes extinct, leaving
the world to the elite. Or, if the elite consists of soft-hearted
liberals, they may decide to play the role of good shepherds
to the rest of the human race. They will see to it that
everyone's physical needs are satisfied, that all children are
raised under psychologically hygienic conditions, that
everyone has a wholesome hobby to keep him busy, and
that anyone who may become dissatisfied undergoes
"treatment" to cure his "problem." Of course, life will be so
purposeless that people will have to be biologically or
psychologically engineered either to remove their need for
the power process or make them "sublimate" their drive for
power into some harmless hobby. These engineered
human beings may be happy in such a society, but they will
most certainly not be free. They will have been reduced to
the status of domestic animals.

Current Mood: sleepy
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