AlphaGo just beat the Chinese at 围棋。All the games, single person, 5 people, never came close. The Chinese team were gracious and kept up good spirit of collaboration and learning. Although, seriously, the Champ seems to speak his mind and probably that of many other people: It really sucks to lose, it doesn’t feel good, and who wants to play against an AI ?

There is some joy, I suppose for some people, to watch these pompous Chinese play their most treasured games and get beat badly. For some people, it is a disgrace that they just have to swallow whole. It is a game where you have the worlds best bang his head against an AI for 4 hours and just lose. Like these passionate people who are at top of their profession, giving it a real go, just lost to the computer. And then the computer pulled a Chinese move and quite professional competition at top of its game! Wow!

So, I guess AI is really closer than we thought. Seeing top pro of one competition decimated by AI immediately brings to mind all the other people who are also passionate and top of their game in a similar situation at their own games. Thinking of drivers, programmers, chefs, teachers, scientists, artists, … leaders. Will they all compete and lose to the AI in such heartbreaking defeat?

I used to make light of the situations and say that that AI has no chance against Hitler’s of the world. It cannot possess enough evil to out evil human kind. But after the last AlphaGo win, I do not even believe that. Think of the next allied forces banging their heads against an AI Hitler, then losing humanity to it.

Evil perhaps is not the only thing that begets evil–perhaps knowledge begets evil too?

Just think of your passionate and top-of-their-game financial advisor fighting against a machine. What about your political leader fighting against a machine? What about artists? The reality is setting in. What incentive will human have to do any of these things well? Why would a human improve himself in any thing if he can make a computer better at it with less human effort and sacrifice? 

Sure there is the counter argument that people run much faster marathons than the Olympians and that survived horses, boats, planes, segways and automobiles. But in reality, running survives because it is a nonessential and mot-really-competitive sport. Like, the scaling of the whole jogging-marathon thing, it doesn’t really scale. Not running has no impact on most people, and running isn’t what makes most people happy. And running usually produces more happiness standalone than winning at competition.

It seems, in the impending age of AI, we can still try to make some predictions about what will be eliminated and what will stay. If a human is making a rational decision then things that will stay are those that we need directly for physiological, psychological and social reasons.