Hey there, Elon Musk. We need to have a little talk.
I understand that you're very worried about what artificial intelligence could mean for our future. In fact, just the other week you said that it's the "greatest risk we face as a civilization," an idea that has been echoed by high-profile futurists around the world.
But I'm here to tell you that it's time to take a deep breath and maybe get a little perspective on A.I. for a minute, when compared to the wide array of threats we face.
SEE ALSO:Elon Musk says Mark Zuckerberg has 'limited understanding' of AIElon, it's nice that you have the privilege of focusing on an existential threat that might rear its ugly head far off in the future, but not all of us are in that position.
In fact, most of us -- who aren't straight, white men with billions of dollars -- have a whole bunch of other existential threats we need to deal with before anyone talks to us about A.I.
Here's a (I hope) helpful -- but certainly not exhaustive -- list of just a few of the many issues we need to tackle before A.I. becomes something that most of us need to worry about.
Climate change
A projection of what New York City could look like by 2100.Credit: Climate centralSo, here's the deal. Human-caused climate change could seriously degrade, if not destroy, the habitability of our world before you ever have a chance to colonize your precious Mars, Elon.
Sea levels are already rising, and if nations around the world continue on emitting greenhouse gases without greatly cutting emissions, that sea level rise could be devastating.
The worst case scenario for sea level rise is likely to to put major coastal population centers from New York City to Mumbai under water in the next century.
Not to mention the fact that blistering heat waves may render large parts of the world virtually uninhabitable, and areas will lose their agricultural productivity and see increased water stress.
So, yes, losing jobs to A.I. may be a threat one day, but those robots won't have anywhere to work (or anyone to work for) if we can't live on Earth.
And President Donald Trump isn't making it any better. As far as the public knows, Trump still believes climate change is a hoax, and judging by the way he talks about his love for coal, reducing greenhouse gas emissions isn't exactly high on his priority list.
The president's cabinet is filled to the brim with climate science deniers, and Trump has promised to pull the U.S. from the Paris Agreement -- a landmark climate change agreement that almost every other nation on Earth has committed to.
It may not sound like a big deal that one country is pulling away from curtailing climate change, but considering the fact that U.S. emissions caused much of the global warming we're seeing today, it's a pretty big deal that America may not take part in reducing the ill effects of those emissions.
To be fair, Elon, I know you already know a lot about climate change and are committed to helping to solve it, but seriously, ranking it lower on the list of threats than artificial intelligence?
Come on.
Asteroids
Via GiphyYou're a space guy, right? Well, perhaps you've heard of the asteroid threat.
While we do have the ability to spot some large asteroids before they actually hit our planet, we definitely don't have the technology in place to protect us from them.
Multiple companies are working to create a system to deflect dangerous asteroids, but none of them have actually launched anything to orbit.
And while NASA is great at actually spotting these space rocks -- in total, the agency has found more than 90 percent of 1 kilometer-sized near-Earth objects around our planet -- the agency isn't yet able to knock them off course if they were to threaten our planet.
Sure, humans would probably find a way to deflect a large rock like the one that killed the dinosaurs, but shouldn't we test out that technology before, I don't know, we're faced with our own imminent demise?
Nuclear war
Via GiphyNukes have been an existential threat since they were invented decades ago, but many experts think the risk of a nuclear war is actually higher now than it has been in many decades.
Nuclear war could kill millions and alter the Earth's climate, making parts of our planet uninhabitable.
According to a study looking at possible consequences of nuclear war, growing seasons for crops would shorten and temperatures on Earth would fall on average, not to mention all of the horrible health effects that would be a result of a nuclear bomb.
This potential threat isn't just relegated to the Cold War or World War II either. Some U.S. officials think that North Korea might be ready to fire a nuclear weapon by next year, according to the Washington Post.
"The U.S. projection closely mirrors revised predictions by South Korean intelligence officials, who also have watched with growing alarm as North Korea has appeared to master key technologies needed to loft a warhead toward targets thousands of miles away," the Postsaid.
Pandemic
According to a 2016 report, outbreaks of infectious diseases in the future pose a major risk to human life and world economies.
“We have neglected this dimension of global security,” Peter Sands, the chair of the Commission on a Global Health Risk Framework for the Future, which authored the report, said in a statement.
“Pandemics don’t respect national boundaries, so we have a common interest in strengthening our defenses against infectious diseases in every part of the world," he said. "Preventing and preparing for potentially catastrophic pandemics is far more effective -- and ultimately, far less expensive -- than reacting to them when they occur, which they will.”
Infectious diseases like H1N1, MERS, SARS, and Ebola have all seen outbreaks in the past two decades, and if countries worldwide don't start investing in infrastructure to combat them, according to the commission, devastating pandemics could run rampant in the future.
"The Commission recommended an investment of approximately $4.5 billion per year – which equates to 65 cents per person – to enhance prevention, detection, and preparedness," the statement said.
"The biggest component of this investment is to upgrade public health infrastructure and capabilities for low- and middle-income-countries, which is estimated to cost up to $3.4 billion per year."
Inequality and oppression
The Black Lives Matter chapter of Atlanta.Credit: Branden Camp/AP/REX/ShutterstockOkay, Elon. This is a big one.
We -- humans -- are the biggest existential threat to ourselves, and you don't need to imagine a Skynet future to see that.
People of color are literally dying because of systemic racism built into our society and societies around the world. Women around the world face harassment, violence, and discrimination because of their gender.
Oppression serves to divide us from each other, creating a fragmented population built on fear that we will carry with us into the future.
The largest refugee crisis since World War II is currently taking place because of rampant inequality, religious strife, armed conflict, discrimination, and the search for better lives in the West. And all this is helping to destabilize some Western governments.
In the U.S., there is currently a historically high level of economic inequality. This is a recipe for a potential crisis that could upend the world's strongest democracy, and further worsen the refugee crisis.
What will our techno future look like if this oppression and inequality is allowed to persist, unchecked by people in positions of power?
And you know what that means, Elon? That means that instead of just making A.I. your pet project, perhaps it's time to start advocating for people, against existential threats before we ever develop a smart enough artificial intelligence system that takes over the world.
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