Will AI doom or save us?

Every new development is condemned as likely leading to the ruination of what has come before. It's a desire to protect our comforts and memories—combined with the fear of losing power and control to the unknown. Anything that forces us to shift our identity is met with resistance. From Socrates (believing the written word is not an ineffective means of communicating knowledge) down through the printing press, radio, TV, computers, etc., the temptation is to condemn new technology for the very fact it is new and unfamiliar. The other temptation is the opposite (deeming it better simply because it is new and shiny). 

Considering that Riepl’s Law seems to be holding (old technology is not replaced, but fades in importance) and each iteration of technology can be used for good or evil, it seems the best attitude toward technology is to see it is as presenting a both/and situation and not an either/or dilemma. 

Will AI doom/save us? Probably. 

Stephen Goforth