Neanderthals, our ancient human relatives, used to have slightly different physical features
They used to have larger noses than ours
Evolution was responsible for those large noses so that those humans could deal with the environment at the time
The distinct nose helped in warming and humidifying the cold and dry air of those ancient times
Chat Gpt is sometimes described as a revolutionary product in the world of internet and AI
However, in my humble view, it’s actually an evolutionary product
Just as those large noses helped make breathing easy, Chat Gpt helps make feeling easy
The humans of today are very inclined toward believing in conspiracy theories
Whether the coronavirus or climate change, we have crafted almost believable fiction to deal with harsh realities
Just as those noses made the air breathable, conspiracy theories make difficult-to-investigate truth digestible and entertaining by turning it into lies
Using the brain is much harder and an undesirable route than using something to relax the brain
We share the planet with flat earthers
These are the people who believe the earth is flat, not round
Many believe that the moon landing was fake, that 9/11 was an American plot, that Bin Laden was an American agent, that Imran Khan is a Jewish agent, that skyscrapers are built with a pointed top in order to harness the devil’s energy, that the porn industry was created to destroy the Muslim youth, the list goes on
What conspiracy theories do is they help us enjoy mental laziness
We don’t want to investigate or research the truth
We don’t want to come out of this comfort zone and try to understand the nuances of truth
So, we easily settle for some entertaining story someone tells and settle the matter
We very comfortably connect the dots using ridiculous pieces of information, some of which may be fake, and create a picture that our lazy brains can make sense of
I wish it was that easy
What Chat Gpt does is to write the story for us
Noam Chomsky rightly said that Chat Gpt was basically “high-tech plagiarism” and “a way of avoiding learning”
No more explanation is necessary to describe it because that exactly is what it is
Chat Gpt is a high-tech product to help us avoid using our gray cells
This technology is an extension of an unbelievable human trait, which I’d take the liberty to label as the anti-curiosity
Humans are usually understood to be driven by curiosity about the world and the universe in which they dwell
I am not so sure if I can say the same about the current lot because then Chat Gpt would be designed to find the unknown truth
It is rather a tool to create the truth for us
There’s nothing new it helps find
It only uses the existing imperfect ingredients to come up with something totally inside of the box
No human imagination or creativity involved
Google, Meta and others are entering the AI race
It is the next big thing
They’re all busy making high-tech drugs to help humans indulge in mental laziness
There’s a fine line between technology making human life easier and technology rendering humans useless because the one feature humans have that animals don’t is the intelligent brain
Many machines that mankind invented help humanity leap forward
Automobiles and planes help humans move faster than animals
Chat Gpt is a technology that can help humans outpace the animals again; except this time in repeating unintelligent steps needed in order for some higher being, such as Chat Gpt, to make decisions for them
Einstein once said that imagination was more important than knowledge
Those words have never been more relevant than today
Chat Gpt uses a huge wealth of knowledge and information that’s in the ether
What it kills is the human imagination
Published in The Express Tribune, February 26th, 2023
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| Date: | 27-Feb-2023 | Reference: | View Original Link |
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