“If automation hollows out jobs, what will people do all day that feels meaningful?”Simple, he responded: They will do what humans have done since time immemorial, which is look to faith for answers and a sense of purpose.
I'm not persuaded that AI will be as disruptive as advertised. Much of the potential danger assumes that people will decide to rely on it and put it in control of things. But people have agency, and sometimes they even learn from mistakes.
But for the moment assume that it will be seriously disruptive. It's plausible that people, in turmoil and loss, will look to religion.
But which religion? Last century saw the rise of horrifyingly destructive cults--two of which demanded bloody world war to put down, and a third which demanded human sacrifices on a scale never seen before and is still active.
I didn't comment on this post at first, but I have been thinking about it for a while.
ReplyDeleteSame. I have had similar thoughts. My first was that people seeking religion when encountering general rather than personal disruption was a cliche, and I thought oversold. Also, why would they pick what I called a religion as an explanation? The trend has been otherwise for my lifetime.
ReplyDeleteBut general disruptions manifest personally and people do seek meaning, so maybe something will be up.