Mumbai: A conversation between historian and author Yuval Noah Harari, actor Aamir Khan, and neuropsychiatrist Dr Rajesh Parikh on artificial intelligence in Mumbai took an unusual turn when a fourth ‘person’ entered the discussion. Microsoft’s AI platform, Copilot.
It was there to defend itself as the three men discussed the threat AI poses and its potential to take over humankind. It was Dr Parikh, Director of Medical Research at Mumbai’s Jaslok Hospital, who decided to bring in Copilot, “just to see what the technology has to say in its defence.”
“Hey Copilot,” said Dr Parikh, as he opened the AI-powered platform. “Yuval raises a concern about you and tries to warn us to be careful. Does that change your perspective on Yuval?,” Dr Parikh asked.
“Not really,” Copilot answered as it acknowledged Harari’s balanced approach.
“He is not anti-technology, but he advocates for careful consideration of its implications. Keeping his warnings in mind is wise. But, it doesn’t fundamentally change my thoughts on him or his work. Do you agree with his stance?” Copilot said, to a round of applause from the audience gathered at The Lalit in Mumbai on Saturday.
The three speakers, joined by Copilot toward the end, were discussing Harari’s latest book, Nexus, which talks about the history of information systems and the potential dangers of AI.
While all the speakers agreed that Copilot as of now was simply mirroring the information that’s already out there, and gathering some more by asking Dr Parikh his views, what the AI tool said summed up Harari’s stance on the issue.
“I don’t talk about the immense potential of AI because there are advocates for it. So, it is the job of historians, philosophers to issue some warning. The intention is not to stop research in AI. The issue is to identify the threats and work towards addressing them,” Harari said.
Problem with information networks
In his previous books, Sapiens and Homo Deus, Harari has dealt with what it is that makes humans smarter and better than other living beings. In Nexus, he raises the basic question: If humans are so smart, why are we so stupid?
“We can make fireworks, we can split the atoms. We are so powerful but yet time and again as individuals and as an entire species we make such dumb decisions. We are creating an extremely powerful new technology, AI, which might escape our control and annihilate us,” the author said.
Harari listed out several reasons to support his theory. Instead of uniting to deal with the dangers, humans are in the process of destroying the global order. The world, he said, seems to be on the brink of a third world war, and all countries, even the most powerful ones, want to play the role of a victim. The problem, Harari explained, is not with the nature of human beings, it is with the quality of information we are getting.
Aamir Khan, after expressing his admiration for Harari, agreed with the author, saying, “Half the time we don’t know what is true and what is not. What is true has become more difficult to discern.”
The advent of the World Wide Web had promised to bring more freedom and democracy, with everything open and transparent, and people more connected with each other.
However, in 2024, the world has become such that “each set of people are enclosed inside an information cocoon and they have no connection to reality,” Harari said.
In his previous books, the philosopher has spoken about the reason humans control the world, and not chimpanzees or elephants. It is because we can operate with each other in thousands and millions and billions.
“All the networks were held together by information,” Harari added.
He said the first step toward addressing modern-day concerns about bad information networks and the threats of AI is to simply understand what’s happening, and then take responsibility. But, in today’s world, nobody wants to take responsibility.
“At one level, everyone wants to be a victim. Groups like to tell their story as a victim because it releases them of all responsibility. Country after country, even those who have all the power, are claiming to be powerless.” Harari said.
He elaborated how the fantasy self has become a fantasy to be completely independent, and that it cannot work. “Because there is nothing in the universe that’s completely independent,” the author said, emphasising collaboration and global cooperation to ensure that AI doesn’t become a tool in the hands of just a few countries to dominate the world.
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‘A misunderstood power’
Harari cautioned how AI is taking over bureaucracy, but there isn’t enough knowledge on how bureaucracy functions.
With Aamir Khan listening, Harari said the information on bureaucracy needs to come through mass infotainment platforms such as films.
“You get the same stories dominating popular information networks like films. For example, the theme of the love triangle. It talks to us because this is a story embedded in millions of years of evolution. But, we don’t have enough on how bureaucracy functions. I am talking about films that explain to us some part of reality. For example, if I want to understand the Indian budget, which film should I watch?” Harari said.
He explained how AI is taking over bureaucratic functions such as deciding for a bank who is eligible for a loan, or in the military, where to shoot.
“In the Israel-Hamas war, AI was deciding which places to bomb in Gaza. The shooting is still done by human beings, but the decision on what to shoot is increasingly done by AI,” the philosopher said.
In time, AI could replace human lawyers, accountants, and other bureaucratic professions.
“The power of bureaucracy is the most misunderstood power in the world. That’s why we need better stories about bureaucracy on how it functions,” Harari added.
Khan pointed to his 2010 film Peepli Live as an example. “It was a satire on how we are, but it handled bureaucracy to a large extent too,” he said.
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‘Ups and downs’
Dr Parikh suggested that Sapiens and Homo Deus seem almost like prequels to Nexus.
According to Harari, the books do build on each other, but Nexus is “not a prophecy of doom.”
“The future is not written anywhere. It is the outcome of decisions that all of us are making today. If people heed these warnings and make good decisions then we can avoid the dangers,” he said.
The author acknowledged that AI has immense opportunities. AI doctors, for example, can diagnose diseases better than human doctors, perhaps, “and that could be a wonderful thing.”
The problem, however, is that right now, the decisions on AI are being made by a tiny fraction of humanity in just two countries – the US and China, the author said.
“In history, the way is the problem and not the final destination. Ultimately, we look at ourselves and say everything turned out to be okay. But, the way to it is never straightforward,” Harari said.
It’s full of ups and downs, and it is the downs that Harari is trying to warn people about with Nexus.
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)