Reinventing Ourselves

This book strives to be neither utopian nor apocalyptical. Nevertheless, there is always an unrealistic natural tendency to assume that tomorrow will resemble our positive and negative experiences today, only a little bit different—or maybe extremely so—instead of recognizing that we are in the middle of an unknowably disruptive change. This is a revolution like no other: one that is inconceivably pervasive and profound; terrifying and tantalizing; and above all, inevitable and irreversible. Whereas the computational power of the human brain is largely prewired by evolution, AI capacities arising from computer technology power and applications are growing exponentially. Entirely new quantum computing technology can now be expected to accelerate processing capacities at progressively astounding rates. Just as current AI applications promise to transform an endless variety of peaceful information and problem-solving tasks, QC’s capacity to out-think conventional computers presents enormously troubling military and economic cybersecurity challenges. In any case, there is no way to turn back the clock of technological progress, just as there are no known theoretical limits to computational intelligence. Will such inventions ultimately supersede our most valued qualities, capacities and necessities of human "natural intelligence"? Or rather, will unfathomably rapid and all-encompassing AI developments and applications empower us to reach higher intellectual, creative and spiritual potentials? Reinventing Ourselves challenges readers to consider multi-faceted and interconnected layers of these predominate visions and to contemplate which are likely to be most true. Both views will likely prove to be at least partially correct. Meanwhile, our personal choices are either to reinvent ourselves one day at a time or to accept obsolescence.