So the day I take my advice from Elon Musk is the day I … oh never mind. In any event a recent comment by Musk caught my attention. He warned in rather apocalyptic tones that artificial intelligence is the greatest threat to humanity that we have ever faced. Good Lord man, in a world of hyperbole that takes the cake.

History records that the famous code buster Alan Turing first wrote about artificial intelligence just after WW2. He had been busy until then breaking the German Enigma code, an advantage which turned the tide for the Allied side. Turing recognized that machines would be capable of ‘thinking’ for themselves in the future, something he calculated would be a great advance. Turns out Turing was prophetic.

There can be little doubt that we are now on the cusp of tectonic social upheaval not seen since the Industrial Revolution, a time which redescribed social order and ‘work’ in ways that we still struggle to absorb. And now this. So to be clear artificial intelligence, which is now unstoppable, is going to reorder our world. ‘Knowledge’ jobs which were once considered immune from technological change will disappear by the millions; accountants, lawyers, teachers, professors, journalists, pharmacists, musicians, authors, comedians come to mind in no particular order. Already stories are being written with AI, good stories I should add, art is being created by AI, music, lectures, essays the list has just begun.

Except it will lack what makes us all so unique: Our humanity.

In 1937 the ‘Hindenburg’ a German passenger airship as they called it, burst into flames and crashed to the ground while trying to land in New Jersey. Herb Morrison, a reporter witnessed the inferno, assuming all sixty-two passengers would perish in the fireball.

“It’s falling … this is terrible, this is one of the worst catastrophes in the world. Oh the humanity!”

His words were powerful but it was his voice that made the moment so unforgettable. It was thick with anguish, the human anguish we would all feel in such a moment.

In 1963 President Kennedy died after being shot by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas Texas. Walter Conkrite was the iconic TV anchor for CBS News at the time.

“President Kennedy died at 2 o’clock Eastern Standard time, some thirty -eight minutes ago.”

As he spoke he removed his glasses, looked at the wall clock and gathered himself, clearly shaken by the news. When he began to speak again after a long pause his voice was full of emotion, weighted with the gravity of the moment and the awareness that a great man had been assassinated.

In 2001 TV viewers watched in horror as the South Tower collapsed. NF Burkett was a reporter at the base of the tower as it began to fall. His voice captured the terrifying moment as millions watched in disbelief.

There are countless examples of course, not all of them tragic. There was Al Michaels’ hysterical call when the US beat the Russian hockey team at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics

“Do you believe in miracles? Yes!”

Sydney Crosby’s Golden Goal in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

“Crosby scores. Sydney Crosby. The Golden Goal. And Canada has won Olympic gold.”

All of them were spontaneous human reactions, some of them so compelling they are seered into our memories. There are endless examples; some thrilling, some tragic, private and public, some historic. And what ties them all together? It is our humanity and that is something no computer can replicate. At best it can be taught to copy our humanity but no computer can be human.

You know I’m not a deep thinker. I wish I was. But I am a deep worrier and this safe to say has me worried. Artificial intelligence is without doubt a great discovery and will have many positives. When government and corporations are finished with us we will have been convinced it is the greatest technological advance ever. After all untold wealth is to be earned. I’m old enough to remember the same nonsense about nuclear energy. Robert Oppenheimer, the American theoretical physicist, was the wartime head of the Los Alamos Laboratory, credited with being the ‘father of the atomic bomb’ although I imagine fathering such a diabolical weapon is not what he would want to be remembered for. Not unlike Musk, Oppenheimer was brilliant and visionary but with no capacity at the time to understand the hell he was unleashing on the world. As with Elon Musk, in his later years he had his own ‘Come to Jesus’ moment. He acknowledged the terror he had unleashed on the world.

“Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds. I suppose we all thought that, one way or the other.”

His humanity was evocative and powerful coming from such a great scientist. But too late, just as it is now for Elon Musk to warn us that AI has the capacity to destroy our world. There is no stuffing the AI genie back in the bottle.

And what of the truth? What could possibly go wrong? As I am writing this blog and as if on queue a German paper ran a full page cover this week announcing the first ever post injury interview with Michael Schumacher, the legendary F1 driver. Over a decade ago he was severely injured in a race, put in a forced coma for years and has not spoken to the press since the accident. It was a big coup indeed. Except that it wasn’t. Michael Schumacher remains unable to give interviews. The whole story was made up by AI; questions asked, answers given all of it made up by an artificial intelligence app. Flawless questions, impeccable answers, all of it an AI lie. Nothing to worry about here folks, back inside please.

Good Lord this is dark. Too dark. There may be hope of course. It turns out that AI is terrible at jokes. Somehow not yet understanding the complex layering of the human experience sufficiently well to allow it to make jokes that we find funny. There are all manner of AI Joke Generators. Try them out. I did.

Tony: “According to a new study talking after sex is the only thing better than sex.”

AI Joke Generator: “In fact, talking is the only thing better than sex.”

Not funny. Not even a little bit. Phewphhh! You see there is hope.

Anyway I’ve had my say. Sorry if it’s all a bit of a downer. When my mother as she aged was faced with change she did not like she would often say “Well, it doesn’t matter to me. I won’t be here to see it.” And I’m 72, it’s not unreasonable to expect that I won’t have to deal with all this AI fallout. Isn’t it? But that was back when change occurred at a reasonable, manageable pace. When one could absorb the change on the fly. But that ain’t the case no more. Somebody put some sort of Accelatron on all this AI change and it turns out I am going to have deal with it.

Tony: “Knock knock”

AI Joke Generator: “Who’s there. I know somebody is there. Come in.”

Uh oh!