In the Future, Will We Outsource Our Human Capabilities to AI?

Technology experts worry that over the next decade, artificial intelligence will deteriorate our sense of purpose and how we think, feel, behave and relate to one another, a new report finds. 

For “Being Human in 2035,” Elon University in North Carolina asked more than 300 technology experts how they expect AI will alter essential human traits and capabilities. 

The experts predict AI will undermine many human cognitive and social traits, including our social and emotional intelligence, our capacity and willingness to think deeply about complex concepts, our trust in widely shared norms and values, and our ability to exercise empathy and moral judgment.

Some 50% say AI will cause positive and negative changes in fairly equal measures, while 23% predict AI’s effect on people will be mostly for the worse, and 16% think it would be mostly for the better. Just 6% predict AI will have little or no effect on people.

One expert predicts that “AI companions will increasingly vie for people’s time, attention and allegiance.” Divisions will form between “AI devotees” and “AI conscientious objectors.”

Another expert believes “Individuals will face a stark choice between remaining ‘classic humans,’ who rely on innate biological faculties, or…surrendering some human traits to machines.” 

One respondent foresees that overreliance on AI will cause human cognitive abilities to atrophy, resulting in “self-inflicted AI dementia.” Another predicts that “AI-calculated probabilities of success will inform every life choice.”

Says another, “by 2035, humans [will] have become so accustomed to AIs reading books for them and then reporting out a summary that most humans can no longer read on their own. The best-selling book of 2035 will be ‘What Was Human’ and it will be written by an AI.”