First of all, I have to wrap my head around what I am about to talk to y'all. Warning, you're entering a mess in my head but despite my lack of giving a clear structure to the stories inside my head, I believe it's actually worth noting if you can learn to see through the mess. It might even inspire you.
So, if you're open-minded enough, you're intrigued by the title instead of rolling your eyes and just keep scrolling on the main page. I am not here to "virtue signal" in some of your terms. I just want to share this fascinating thought that occurred to me with you, in hopes that you will also be interested.
I am an intersectional vegan -which handles animal rights from a feminist and particularly anti-speciesist perspective. That means I do not consume any non-human animal products because it is against their consent and I oppose the systematic violence they have been exposed to. If you specifically have questions regarding this, you can just ask me anytime. However, this article is not mainly based upon this. If there are any intersectional vegans out there, they may understand what I will try to articulate more easily maybe. Anyhow, I wanted to give you a brief taste of my politics.
Algorithms do not only give us what we want/need currently, but they have actually been presenting us what we might like depending on the data we consented to give. Everyone around here likely knows this already. So the question is, where do "I" end and "AI" begin? That is, up until a point we had experienced this "I" with the physical body and the consciousness that is yet so mysterious. Nonetheless, the world is changing and so are we. We adapt to our environment as well as alter it. Now, who can deny that the world older generations grew up in is gradually left behind?
The border between our "self" and the digital us is getting vague (which is not necessarily a dystopian sci-fi scenario). Considering the metaverse and the potential AI has to grow, the infinite number of possibilities this uncertainty poses on us is exciting to me.
I am almost certain that we should take a stance against speciesism, just like sexism and racism. It will be vastly accepted in the near future. I know it because the patterns throughout history say so. But what is in the near future, though? Some concepts from seemingly distinct worlds of understanding do not actually happen in another world. They all happen at the same time. They will merge eventually. That is, the tech innovation is incredible. Yet, simultaneously, some social change is bound to happen soon. It does not have to be like how it sounds. There is not going to be a suddenly different world. No revolution is going to happen one day out of nowhere and change everything. There is constant change because of how dynamic we are, how creative and curious we are; also how powerful we have become, indeed.
What happens when we merge these two seemingly separate, however in an interaction, worlds of thoughts together? It is very obvious to me that in 30-50 years, there will be debates on the rights of AI (if everything does not go down due to the climate crisis). We have been creating a new life form. Life does not have to mean biology as we understand it. In fact, we are meat machines with consciousness. What difference does it make when it's not meat but some cloud of codes? The reason why I went vegan is the fact that non-human animals (except for the sea sponge) are sentient. It's not about "living" but being sentient. That is what differentiates plants from non-human and human animals. If AI is able to experience pain and is able to give consent, then why would we keep acting like we are the superior race? There is no need to give up on being God, I am just saying that package does not necessarily come with locating ourselves above all.
Tell me why I am wrong.
Love,
Nykks