Progress for man or man for progress?

In mid-June, information spread across the Internet that tea pickers in Kenya were destroying robots, which left people without work. Some of the robots are able to replace up to a hundred people and reduce the price of picking tea from eleven to three cents per kilogram. Vandalism was primarily engaged in by employed persons, in order to prevent layoffs in the future. Ten Lipton picker robots were burned by workers, causing $1.2 million in damage. In just one region, Kericho, machines have replaced 30,000 workers in ten years. Local authorities recommend that agricultural holdings collect at least 40% of tea by hand.

This unremarkable at first glance event, nevertheless, requires a more detailed consideration in the context of the latest technological achievements in the development of artificial intelligence. I will immediately note that I am in no way an opponent of technological development and actively used modern gadgets in writing this text. The purpose of the publication is, first of all, to complicate the view on technologies, to consider possible scenarios of the development of events around them, to predict possible risks and, most importantly, to expand the discussion.

All active participants in the development of AI talk about the approach of a new technological revolution and openly claim that we will witness a reduction in the economy's need for human labor. The same thing happened in the past, especially during the scientific and technological revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries, when a number of professions disappeared. The struggle of people against the introduction of the latest technology in the economy was also a widespread phenomenon in the past. Technologies also brought new requirements in relation to their own use, which generated new jobs and employment, requiring retraining, often through long-term training. But as they say: "the devil is in the details."

Until the middle of the 20th century, technological development did not keep up with the needs of humanity in providing basic living conditions, starting with the prevention of hunger, which has haunted humanity throughout history, and ending with medicine. Technologies brought, first of all, the growth of the coefficient of useful action (efficiency) of a person, for which there was an extreme need.

The 18th and 19th centuries were a time of active colonization by Europeans of the entire globe, which was accompanied by the expansion of the capitalist form of economy. Europe was formed as a center of production, while the exploitation of resources and the popularization (often aggressive planting) of Western culture and lifestyle in the colonies formed colossal markets. The scaling of production, the improvement of transport and the optimization of logistics contributed to the decrease in the price of goods, and as a result, demand constantly outweighed supply.

After the full satisfaction of basic human needs, in the second half of the 20th century, economic development was primarily ensured by the popularization of the cult of consumption among Western society and the transfer of production capacities to the region of Southeast Asia. Even then, production required the involvement of significant amounts of human labor, accordingly enriched the local societies and eventually allowed the formation of the so-called "second golden billion".

In the past, three regularities are clearly observed:

• Constant expansion of the capitalist form of economy, without which it is unable to develop;
• Production was in the position of catching up with human needs;
• Scientific and technical development increased human efficiency.

Thus, in the past, technologies complemented man, increased the productivity of human labor and, most importantly, expanded the boundaries of human activity and creativity. It is even possible to claim that scientific and technical development has accumulated the human population, increasing its productivity, in contrast to the rather primitive agricultural work that humanity was engaged in before that. This accelerated the process of urbanization, it is not for nothing that the city and the ratio of urban to rural population is one of the indicators of the development of civilization.

Since 2007, the world economy has been in a state of turbulence. Hopes rest on the development of the African continent and the economic boom of India. But the events in Kenya clearly demonstrate that even now human labor is losing to robots in terms of cheapness and efficiency. What will be the effect of the combination of artificial intelligence and robotics? The wave of reduction will overwhelm not only "blue" but also "white-collar workers". The economic development of India and the countries of the African continent can be realized with minimal involvement of the local population, which is actively growing. In this way, the well-being of the population will not change, the purchasing power will remain meager. At a minimum, the formation of a new sales market for world-produced goods will not take place, and at the most, a social explosion will occur. In the conditions of the global economy, it will affect advanced states, where social tension is already increasing due to inflation, a reduction in real incomes and an increase in the retirement age. Employees there are also not immune from the influence of technology, which will add "wood to the fire". Some countries are testing basic social income payments, but how many countries are capable of doing so? What about Ukraine, of which we are citizens? A decrease in income reduces consumption, which negatively affects production and accordingly reduces the income of the employed, who also begin to save, and so on in a circle. It is important to remember that in today's globalized world, all changes and phenomena are implemented much faster than in the past, so any event in one end of the world can immediately cause unpredictable consequences on a global scale. Employees there are also not immune from the influence of technology, which will add "wood to the fire". Some countries are testing basic social income payments, but how many countries are capable of doing so? What about Ukraine, of which we are citizens? A decrease in income reduces consumption, which negatively affects production and accordingly reduces the income of the employed, who also begin to save, and so on in a circle. It is important to remember that in today's globalized world, all changes and phenomena are implemented much faster than in the past, so any event in one end of the world can immediately cause unpredictable consequences on a global scale. Employees there are also not immune from the influence of technology, which will add "wood to the fire". Some countries are testing basic social income payments, but how many countries are capable of doing so? What about Ukraine, of which we are citizens? A decrease in income reduces consumption, which negatively affects production and accordingly reduces the income of the employed, who also begin to save, and so on in a circle. It is important to remember that in today's globalized world, all changes and phenomena are implemented much faster than in the past, so any event in one end of the world can immediately cause unpredictable consequences on a global scale. citizens of which are we? A decrease in income reduces consumption, which negatively affects production and accordingly reduces the income of the employed, who also begin to save, and so on in a circle. It is important to remember that in today's globalized world, all changes and phenomena are implemented much faster than in the past, so any event in one end of the world can immediately cause unpredictable consequences on a global scale. citizens of which are we? A decrease in income reduces consumption, which negatively affects production and accordingly reduces the income of the employed, who also begin to save, and so on in a circle. It is important to remember that in today's globalized world, all changes and phenomena are implemented much faster than in the past, so any event in one end of the world can immediately cause unpredictable consequences on a global scale.

The very idea of ​​progress is a product of the thinking of the Modern era and is an important component of the myth-making of any utopian idea. If previously utopian delusions envisioned the construction of a "paradise on earth" for each person and humanity as a whole, by the 20th century, the role of man in the construction of "paradise" was reduced to a statistical unit in calculations, which often became redundant or could be neglected. Technical progress from the expansion of human capabilities and improvement of living conditions has reached the expansion of the possibilities of "elimination of statistical errors". Nuclear technology is a vivid example of how different methods of its use can either provide millions of people with cheap electricity, or leave the same millions of lives. All "side effects" quite often become obvious with the passage of time.

Participants in the development of AI sometimes resemble fanatics, they confidently talk about the threat of loss of income for people. But do they think about their own participation? History clearly demonstrates that those who want to "kindle the fire of the revolution" often become "firewood for kindling" and will they not be in the first ranks of the protesters? Based on the scientific and technical development of the past, assumptions are made that new technologies will generate new jobs. But is it in sufficient quantity? It is obvious that Kenyans are skeptical about this.

The next assumption is that humanity will plunge into the world of virtual reality, which is now vividly described in fiction and cinema. First, the limits of human choice are immeasurable. Secondly, VR technology has not gone beyond the limits of the entertainment industry for a long time, while it remains an expensive fancy. The technology is extremely demanding, and the human vestibular apparatus suffers incredibly at the slightest error in its operation. Yes, the constant presence of thousands or millions of people in the virtual world requires incredible resources, which in turn requires a certain commercial or other benefit for the organizers, which is currently not tracked at all.

The hope that AI will be able to solve such tasks looks extremely skeptical, which was described in the publication "BEFORE GIVEN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE WITH CONSCIOUSNESS, IT IS IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND IF YOU ARE A PERSON." Or if the capabilities of AI in displacing human labor will prevail over the speed of solving such tasks, then the consequences will also be catastrophic. The most dangerous person is the one who has nothing to lose, and when there are many such people...

The new technological device does not seem to be compatible with modern thinking and with the very view of a person as a resource. I am by no means a fatalist and am fully aware that I may not know certain phenomena or facts, the main purpose of the publication is to encourage thinking and discussion. In my opinion, there is a need to rethink the value of human life and answer the question - is progress for man or man for progress? Many ideas were inspired by past human experience, I see the experience of Ancient Greece, where the main disadvantage was slave ownership, as useful. The combination of artificial intelligence and robotics allows a person to be completely freed for creative and social activities.

This is our chance to take our eyes off the equipment and monitors, and freely look around. Maybe even look at the starry night sky...