In February 2023, I penned an article for ‘The Elelphant’ online journal https://www.theelephant.info/opinion/2023/02/13/chatgpt-what-the-hype/ that drew a lot of attention and feedback. It was about the alarming fawning and hype over AI. Looking back on it today, I realize that this was actually a treatise on the decline of humanity and our collective denial of human purpose. The use of technology, dating back to the rudimentary use of levers, tools, weapons and the invention of the wheel. One uniform thread of principle runs through all these developments. The tools and technology were ALWAYS a means to easier achievements of certain objective EXTERNAL to the tools themselves. For examples, weapons were to defend against threats, or eliminate competition that presents an obstacle to achieving some vital need. Fast forward to the 21st century, and after centuries of technical progress, technology ITSELF has become so profitable that it is becoming an end in itself. Weapons moved from being tools to win wars to being reasons for the same. Wars are now waged to sell and dispose of costly weapons that cannot be used in any way. In intellectually and spiritually weaker societies like Kenya, it has also taken on the aroma of a ‘cult’, with statements like “We’re a digital government” or “AI is the future”, not to mention the strange belief that apps and startups constitute ‘idea’ or ‘innovation’. Worst of all, it has accelerated the application of engineering solutions to human problems. In government, the digitization of financial systems (through IFMIS) for example, has led to levels financial looting unheard of in the ‘analogue’ era, and the thieves are never unmasked. Even the Government itself has found an excuse (“computer error”) for graft. Computers don’t err. Humans are the ones who conspire. Personally, I have found myself in situations where I waste untold hours of time on machines and tech to achieve very petty goals. I have logged into intricate digital platforms to see my child’s school report that could have been emailed to me, or even sent by whatsapp. Safaricom customer care no longer features any human being, and is about as helpful as the warts on a warthog’s snout. I have been teaching an advanced professional course online and my client is having these busy professionals log into a highly complicated system to upload their assignments which I can only mark by wasting even more time logging into the system. I couldn’t get any answer as to why these assignments couldn’t be emailed to me. And I have to waste even more time with the tech support person every day dealing with glitches. In other classes, I have seen students go online and produce a whole page of chat GPT generated drivel complete with references, when all I asked for was a 3-sentence paragraph of their thoughts on an issue. The list is endless. Self-driving cars, AI option for comments on social media, etc, etc…Our global environmental policies are based on AI generated climate models, and were willing to kill real humans to achieve what those brainless models demand of us. Part of the challenge is that the world is producing an entire ilk of humanity whose whole purpose is tech, and not the logical application thereof, and they are inspired by the huge sums of money made through this decline in human intelligence, not knowing that they are the commodity. Again, these tech “weeds” find fertile ground in intellectually stunted societies everywhere. Here’s the strongest evidence: Our president giving AI- generated speeches at times of crisis, and our top university starting a school of AI, inspired by a charlatan chancellor. I wonder if they will official accept chatgpt generated theses and fees payment in cryptocurrency. Retain your logic and qualitative thought. Human Society deserves it.
