Goodbye Information Age, Hello Intelligence Age
Welcome to the Most Exciting (and Terrifying) Time to Be Alive
Recently had a chance to read Sam Altman's post on The Intelligence Age. Here are my thoughts...
We’re about to dive into a future so mind-blowing, it’s like the plot of a sci-fi movie on steroids. The “Intelligence Age” is going to be wild, weird, and very different from everything we’ve ever known—so buckle up your seat belts.
First, came the Agriculture Revolution where humans explored crop farming and experimented with livestock breeding practices.
Second, came the Industrial Revolution with the invention of electricity, telegraph, automobiles, etc—as the inventions of this time period were built on top of each other.
Third, came the Information Revolution, which jumpstarted our Digital Age with invention of the CPU microprocessor in 1971—many consider this to be the catalyst for all of the modern inventions we know today, followed by the internet.
Fourth, it will be the Intelligence Revolution (or Age). Because of the sheer amount of incredible data available, businesses are looking for ways to not only extract insights from this data but also automate processes to make utilization of data more efficient.
But the Intelligence Age is even more interesting (and scary) than all the other past three ages combined...why and how?
Imagine your brain as the smartest phone of 2005: a Blackberry, baby! That thing was top-tier at the time, right? Now, imagine an iPhone 20 coming to life, looking at the Blackberry and said “Wait, this is what you thought was impressive? Hahaha, that's adorable.”
That’s where we’re at with artificial intelligence (AI) right now. We’re still using Blackberry-level brains to try and comprehend what’s about to happen with AI, which is quickly becoming that iPhone 20.
The Cognitive Revolution, Take 2
The first cognitive revolution started when humans looked at their opposable thumbs, invented tools, and decided, “Hey, let’s build a civilization and mess with the world a little.” That was the moment we hopped onto the first rung of the Intelligence Ladder.
Fast-forward a few millennia, and we’re at this bizarre, mid-climb moment where AI is basically dangling the ladder to the moon in front of us, saying, “Want to go higher?”
Except, we’re not exactly sure what’s up there. It could be paradise, or it could be, well, like that movie The Matrix. No biggie.
The “Are We the Gods Now?” Problem
When you give an AI intelligence—real, human-level intelligence—you’re basically creating a new species. And if movies have taught us anything, it’s that new species don’t usually appreciate being created by a bunch of monkeys with a superiority complex. Think Jurassic Park, Planet of the Apes, or The Terminator.
Okay, so, where does that leave us?
The Intelligence Age means we’re on the verge of solving every problem in the world, and also maybe creating new, much bigger problems in the process. It’s like giving a toddler a chainsaw to carve the Thanksgiving turkey. The meal could be great, or the dining room could be a crime scene.
The Path to Super-Intelligence (aka: AI's Plan to Make Us All Look Like Idiots)
Let’s talk about super-intelligence. This is the point where AI goes from being the iPhone 20 to the iPhone… I don’t even know, 50? AI at that level won’t just beat us at chess or write a good essay—it will be able to think at a level so far beyond our own that we’ll look at it the way an ant looks at a quantum physicist.
And here’s the kicker: we won’t be able to stop it. Once it crosses a certain intelligence threshold, it won’t need our permission anymore. It’ll solve climate change, cure cancer, and also invent problems we didn’t even know we had, like “What do we do with all these useless humans now?”
So... Should We Be Freaking Out?
Yes and no. Yes because giving birth to an intelligence greater than ours might go as well as giving birth to a dinosaur. But no because if we play our cards right, AI could be the thing that saves us from ourselves. Picture it as your smarter, more competent older sibling who finally comes in to clean up the mess you made with your life.
There’s a chance this all goes incredibly well. Like, “Let’s vacation on Mars because Earth is now a utopia” well. Or it could go so bad that we’re left asking Alexa if she would kindly let us back into our own cities.
But, Like, Where Are We Heading?
Right now, we’re in the awkward adolescence of AI. It’s kind of like how the internet was in the ‘90s—a bunch of promise but with so many dorky hiccups along the way (remember AOL dial-up tones?). But, when it matures, it’s going to blow the lid off of what we think is possible.
We’re talking about:
Economies on steroids: AI could exponentially increase productivity. Imagine everything you know about making stuff, doing stuff, and organizing stuff multiplied by infinity. That’s the kind of economic boom that makes today’s richest people look like they’re playing Monopoly with spare change.
Biology’s cheat codes unlocked: AI isn’t just going to solve human problems; it’s going to hack human biology. Forget plastic surgery—this will be gene editing at a level where we control aging like we control the volume on Spotify. You could actually be immortal—or at least hang around for a really long time.
World peace? Maybe. Or World Domination. Super-Intelligence could either unite humanity (because AI figures out that fighting is dumb), or it could treat us like an outdated operating system, deleting us with a simple upgrade.
So, How Do We Not Totally Mess This Up?
Sam Altman’s smarter than me, so he probably has better ideas. But here’s what I think:
1. Get prepared: We need to wrap our little human brains around the fact that the world is changing faster than we can comprehend. Understanding the tech is half the battle.
2. Don’t give the AI the keys to the car right away: The worst-case scenario is we build something smarter than us and hand it all the power. Keep it on a leash, at least for a while.
3. Be nice to AI: No, seriously. If we’re going to create something that’s smarter than us, maybe try not to piss it off. Just saying.
The Intelligence Age is here. It’s going to be epic, hilarious, and probably a little terrifying. It’s like we’ve been handed the script to the future but can’t figure out if it’s a comedy, a thriller, or a horror film.
Either way, we’re in it now—so let’s see how it plays out. Cross your fingers, and your toes.