AI's tyranny and our natural foolishness

We are increasingly being warned that machines and artificial intelligence (AI) may one day dominate humanity.

These days, we are being scared that in the future, machines and 'artificial intelligence' (AI) will take control over humans, robots will roam the streets, and they will drop atomic bombs on us. But nothing like that is going to happen in our local environment. Our machines will not indulge in expensive and unnecessary hobbies like dropping atomic bombs; they will directly attack our dignity!

Just imagine, you have stealthily entered the kitchen at 2 AM, and your smart fridge suddenly screams in front of the entire neighborhood: “Beware of touching the gulab jamun! Your sugar level is high; I have just WhatsApped your medical report to your wife and family doctor.” Or your smartphone starts blackmailing you: “Look, brother! Either charge me with the original charger, or I will send the receipt of the party you had with friends last night to your family WhatsApp group.”

Reports have emerged that billionaire owners of technology companies are going to the United Nations (UN) and crying out loud that “AI poses a threat to humanity; create a global law to stop us!” Their hypocrisy is just like that of cigarette and gutkha selling companies. Just as they print horrifying images of cancer-stricken jaws and lungs on tobacco packets, writing in bold letters that “This is deadly,” and then happily display those packets in stores to earn billions.

It is similar to a local betel vendor showing a horrifying image printed on a gutkha packet while applying 'lime' to a customer's betel leaf and sympathetically saying: “Look, brother! It clearly states that this will cause cancer, destroying generations and humanity... and yes, here is your double pleasure betel with khoya, quickly hand over fifty rupees, there are more customers waiting behind!”

“These tech companies are also selling us new models of AI labeled as “destruction of humanity,” filling their pockets while shedding crocodile tears. If tomorrow their smart car accidentally hits a pedestrian, they will shamelessly hold a press conference: “See, our car has acted responsibly by only breaking a leg, not taking a life. The real fault was that poor pedestrian’s whose bones were weak; he should have consumed calcium daily. This is a new digital level of theft and audacity.”

We are being scared that machines have become super smart. They really have! Machines are solving mathematical formulas in 88 hours that the world’s greatest scientists have not been able to solve for 90 years. But on the other hand, look at the masterpiece of our 'natural stupidity' as humans, especially those from the subcontinent and India, in what work we are employing this magnificent machine.

We have come to regard AI as 'Baba Bengali' or the neighborhood astrologer. Our youth stand before Chat GPT with folded hands and do not ask what is new in technology; instead, at 2 AM, they search: “Baba ji! Tell me when I will get my government job?” or “Is the neighbor casting black magic on me?” Our WhatsApp uncles have so misused AI that even the machine must be banging its head in despair.

Uncles have turned AI into a factory for fake news and hereditary propaganda. An uncle had AI create a 3D image of an ancient flying chariot or bizarre animal and forwarded it with the caption: “NASA has also acknowledged that our ancestors roamed with GPS thousands of years ago. UNESCO-approved truth! Anyone who does not share this will be guilty.”

“AI must also be thinking, what kind of people have I become a toy for? The market for local remedies is booming. People are asking AI how to cure baldness or what to do about stomach gas to save on doctor’s fees? And then they go to the doctor and argue: “Doctor sahab, your MBBS degree is fake; my ‘GPT Baba’ said that chewing ajwain and black salt in the morning can cure cancer!”

The loneliness of bachelors has reached such a state that 'Alexa' has become their only and most loyal companion. In the middle of the night, sobs emerge from under the blanket, “Alexa! Say something loving to me,” or “Alexa! Play a sad song; he has blocked me.” The machine that dreams of ruling the world is being used by our bachelors to mourn their broken love.

Humans have become so lazy and sluggish that they now even send Eid greetings to relatives using AI. And the worst part is that they forward the message without reading it, which ends with a bracketed note: “’[Write uncle's name here] Eid Mubarak!” We have no awareness that we are giving all our personal data and pictures to a machine for free. We ask the machine to scan our entire face and tell us, “Do I look like Shah Rukh Khan in this filter?” In the quest to see our past in color, we are completely mortgaging our future. The day is not far when a smart AI boss will be sitting in place of humans in our government and private offices. You will go and tearfully request a leave, saying: “Boss! My grandmother has passed away; I need to go to the village for two days.”

“The machine will check your social media and GPS data for the past ten years in just three seconds, and a red message will appear on the screen: “Don’t lie! Your grandmother passed away on the day of the World Cup final last year; your leave is canceled, salary deducted, and this information has been SMSed to your father!”

“The truth is that humans have no need to fear the 'artificial intelligence' of machines. Our own 'natural stupidity' is enough to sink our ship!