The metaverse will be a digital time machine powered by predictive algorithms that will influence the decisions of mankind who, to quell its craving for certainty, risk seeing a truly unwritten conditioned future, warns Helga Nowotny (Vienna, 85). in Sociology from Columbia University, Professor Emeritus of Science and Technology Studies at ETH Zurich, Co-Founder of the European Research Council and Member of the Swedish Academy of Sciences, Nowotny traveled to Barcelona to present her book Faith in artificial intelligence. Predictive algorithms and the future of humanity (Gutenberg Galaxy).
ask. Is the human-machine interaction you describe in your book unstoppable?
Answer. Yes, it is an endless co-evolution. Two interacting species, in this case humans and machines, are constantly influencing each other. So we are facing an open process, which is still in its infancy. We’re starting to see what we can do with algorithms and artificial intelligence. Many people are surprised, for example, to see what a machine can produce if it has enough data, such as images or text, with AI-based applications like GPT-3 or Dall-e. Today we have reached this point, but tomorrow we will continue to surprise ourselves even more. Machines are faster than our brains, they learn and they can process large amounts of data. However, AI does not understand how humans handle information, nor is it creative in the sense that we humans, who ask ourselves questions about why things happen and how we can change them.
s. We tend to wonder what will happen in the future. Will predictive algorithms help us predict them or make us make wrong decisions?
R was found. Humans have been interested in the future since the beginning of time. But we can never really know what the future holds for us. Now we have predictive algorithms that rely on data from the past to predict the future, but not everything can be predicted. An epidemic, so unpredictable, is confirmation that the future is uncertain. Algorithms are based on probabilities. If we believe too much in what machines predict, we risk agreeing with them, and they are not always right. We must give meaning to the future by interpreting the information that machines give us. We should not be afraid of them either, because when we are afraid we are paralyzed. Lethargy and passivity are the worst option.
s. Like inaction in the face of the climate emergency?
R was found. exactly. We definitely must move. The positive part of predictive algorithms is that they can help us make better decisions, which is very essential in the field of sustainability. A specific example is energy consumption, which can be planned if the available data is analyzed well. The problem is that scientists know how to manage uncertainty, with structured skepticism allowing progress, but politicians not.
s. What are the effects of digitization on the transformation of society?
R was found. The most important is the impact on the business. Some jobs will disappear and others will be created. Here will be the main organizational challenge. And it is that if a machine rejects you, you cannot appeal anything. This is why it is so important to regulate everything related to artificial intelligence. They are skeptical of the United States when it comes to regulation. In China, regulation is subject to the will of an authoritarian power. Europe, which is halfway there, is starting to protect data, with a good legal text but difficult to implement. You have to organize as much as possible and go step by step, especially in the field of algorithm transparency.
s. Given this lack of regulation, is power now in the hands of the tech giants?
R was found. emphasis. It is necessary to know what the points of intervention are. Right now, we focus on data privacy, yet people still agree to give up their data to Big Tech. Ironically, on the other hand, during the pandemic, all countries have had problems managing data on health trends.
s. Why do you think our perception of time is changing?
R was found. Technology makes us live immersed in a time machine. This leads to a change in our perception, with the feeling that the present is expanding more and more. Pictures from the telescope James Webb They now allow us to see what happened millions of years ago. The past is coming to the present. The same is true for the future with predictive algorithms. We feel that everything is happening in the present moment. This is the time machine. The past comes into the present and the future too. Thus, the metaverse would be a time machine.
s. With the data you have, would you dare to predict what the future will be like?
R was found. No, because it is impossible to know. I hope that with the help of science we can convince ourselves that we only have one planet no matter how much we explore others and that we learn from past disasters to do things better. But the future is not written.
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