Jennifer Shearer French
I am a futurist and science fiction writer.
My message is that ethical SAINT technology can provide global solutions, if given consent and investment by global citizens. The potential is here, now we need the will to do the right thing. And quickly.
We are now colliding with the terrible problems human progress has created.
Unfortunately, the global coronavirus pandemic was all too predictable. And so are the worldwide disasters being caused by climate change.
We see floods, storms, fires and acute water and resource shortages. These cause wars and refugee movements resulting in massive disruption and human misery. Precious animal and plant species are disappearing, and our world is about to be transformed into an environment we will scarcely recognise.
I think most of us are concerned about our global future. There is a question we all come back to: How can one person, one group, one company or one country, make a difference when the area of global futures is so complex, so fraught with problems we see around us in the world already?
There is a need for a major global change, but no revolution is necessary. The foundations have already been laid with the social structure of the internet, and the time has come to organise it into a global strategic action structure.
In many respects, the internet is a relatively defenceless structure. That needs to improve. Change will also not come from our current global system of political governance in time. Most governments are refusing to act in an effective way, and many others are failed states. The solution is in our hands.
Jennifer Shearer French
I am a futurist and science fiction writer.
My message is that ethical SAINT technology can provide global solutions, if given consent and investment by global citizens. The potential is here, now we need the will to do the right thing. And quickly.
We are now colliding with the terrible problems human progress has created.
Unfortunately, the global coronavirus pandemic was all too predictable. And so are the worldwide disasters being caused by climate change.
We see floods, storms, fires and acute water and resource shortages. These cause wars and refugee movements resulting in massive disruption and human misery. Precious animal and plant species are disappearing, and our world is about to be transformed into an environment we will scarcely recognise.
I think most of us are concerned about our global future. There is a question we all come back to: How can one person, one group, one company or one country, make a difference when the area of global futures is so complex, so fraught with problems we see around us in the world already?
There is a need for a major global change, but no revolution is necessary. The foundations have already been laid with the social structure of the internet, and the time has come to organise it into a global strategic action structure.
In many respects, the internet is a relatively defenceless structure. That needs to improve. Change will also not come from our current global system of political governance in time. Most governments are refusing to act in an effective way, and many others are failed states. The solution is in our hands.
The task can be actioned by using an artificial intelligence system that does not challenge nation states but provides what we desperately need in the world—a rational future governance plan. The issues of consent and authentication of information are major but not insurmountable. A SAINT - an ethical artificial intelligence strategy for dealing with issues such as climate change, nuclear weapons, pandemics, and the needs of humans and other species - requires balancing of competing interests and an enormous amount of analysis of global information. This would be an immensely expensive undertaking, with costs similar to waging a war. Except that lives would be saved, not lost. Our environment and its species could be preserved for future generations, not squandered for power. The money and resources would be used to finally do the right thing.
Change does not occur in the world without ideas. I'm sharing mine. My books, Mindwave and Survival Year, explore the concept of AI mediated global governance, a concept that is both radical and necessary in the environment of today.
Books
How have you reacted to global events that have had so many impacts on the world, it will never be the same? Is there a credible strategy to safeguard ourselves and our global future?These books, Survival Year and Mindwave, put forward possibly the only solution that will work in time. An ethical AI is not compatible with the painfully slow processes of our global political systems, or the ambitions of many of our national leaders. It is up to global citizens themselves to start to build SAINT, an ethical AI, providing the macro and micro level planning required. Survival Year puts the case. It was written some years ago, but the problem still exists and will only get worse. The solutions are still to be actioned. When the political will is there, the real question is who will provide the massive investment needed for the project—maybe we all need to contribute the cost of a taco to get started!
