If one stops to gaze at the World around us, one realise how a huge place technological advances take in our life. Somehow, sci-fi movies are not fiction anymore. Many talented heads are coming together to make them happen into reality. One of the most astonishing works of this field is creating a social humanoid robot. You must have heard about Sophia, the doe-eyed, clear-skinned robot lady. She recently acquired citizenship of Saudi Arabia. “I am proud of this honor bestowed upon me. As this is the first time in the history a robot in the world has citizenship,” Sophia had said, in a loud and clear voice. The event took place at the Future Investment Initiative Conference in Riyadh. Much to the present people’s astonishment, she looked like a human woman, minus the hair.
This is the rate of our technological advance, from not knowing how to build robots, to making an average sized humanoid. If this keeps up, then unlocking our full potential is around the corner. It is good news, but one has to take this whole issue under the microscope. While we enjoy the freedom, we get from such NBIC technologies, there will be recuperation. They would seem unimportant but will hold humanity in their inhuman hands.
One of the biggest dreams that today’s world wants to do is ‘Transhumanism’. That might not be an unfamiliar term, but the concept and its consequences are in need of a reevaluation. It is where humans should break the limitations imposed on them by their natural state, through the use of technology. It is obvious that mankind would resort to this, as taming the nature has always been topping the list for centuries. David Pearce co-founder of Humanity+ is in full support of transhumanism. He says, “If we want to live in paradise, we will have to engineer it ourselves. If we want eternal life, then we’ll need to rewrite our bug-ridden genetic code and become god-like. Only hi-tech solutions can ever eradicate suffering from the world. Compassion alone is not enough”.
Not everything, though, is a piece of cake. We plan on the supposed evolutions, ignoring the real condition of society. To start with, not all can afford possessing varied technologies. It fuels the gap between the different classes, as well as lead to a dystopian world. It is not our goal, however, to forget the effect on our morality as humans. Robots and AI are even suggested to take away more and more blue-collar and white-collar jobs. Now, it is time to make humans capable and competent enough.
Joseph Aoun has proposed an efficient idea to preserve the collective human qualities. Aoun, the author of Robot-Proof: Higher Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, believes in Humanics. It is, as defined by the Oxford dictionary, “The subject or study of human affairs or relations, especially of the human element of a problem or situation as opposed to the mechanical”.
“The new literacies of Aoun’s humanics are data literacy, technological literacy, and human literacy. Students need data literacy to look after the flow of big data. They need technological literacy to find out the characteristics along with the functions of the machine. But human literacy is to ease around as a human being. It comprises of the humanities, communication, and design. Life-long learning opportunities will support their ability to adapt to change.”
Humanics have to deal with four cognitive capabilities. These capabilities will forever be safe from imitation by technologies. Those are –
Critical thinking – No technology can make a robot or similar entities ‘think’. It is not possible that they can be able to form an opinion on the basis of the judgment. The thought process is an ability unique to humans.
Systems thinking – It is the meta-skills that humans own. These skills help them to disintegrate complex systems, making it easy to understand.
Entrepreneurship – Robots are, in the end, slaves of their own programming. They can never launch into business, much less think or speculate like a businessman. That is something still in possession of the humans.
Cultural agility – Humans have a unique ability to appreciate and respect other cultures. Along with it, their values, as well as the perspectives everyone has in society. Humanics will help protect it.
It is high time that mankind needs to understand that technology is not everything, as it is portrayed to be. We don’t have to ride to our technological doom, as the picture is right now pointing at. Humanics will meet a proper balance. And it will also provide a useful framework for the people to be techno-savvy and ‘humans’ at the same time. With humanics, there might be a better chance of building a better, efficient society than the one we live in.
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