Woke is Our Worst AI Nightmare

AI is a hot topic, and the most interesting speculation centers on its potential to destroy humanity. Frankly, I suspect a lot of the paranoia has its origins in the deep catalogue of science fiction books and movies that explore just about every possible way a central AI gone rogue can wipe us out. In particular, James Cameron’s Terminator movies encapsulated our darkest fears of the merger of AI and robotics.

AI driven Armageddon is the Least of Our Worries

When AI mania erupted in 2021, it didn’t seem prudent to spend a lot of time worrying about the Armageddon scenario since Elon has that covered. Instead, for me, a more nuanced concern began to develop because we know there is no cultural phenomenon or technological innovation that woke leftists won’t spoil or exploit.

The question isn’t whether they will look to distort and compromise AI until it hardly resembles the original vision of its creators, but rather, what strategy will they pursue to achieve those ends? It took some time to ponder, but when you understand the psychology behind Woke’s bizarro world thinking, they actually become rather predictable. Yet, no one wants to be responsible for developing their strategy outlines for them, so the hope was they might leave AI alone, at least for the time being.

Protecting AI Rights

In hindsight, the tact Woke will take when addressing AI should have been obvious. After all, the new technology presents them with a fix of virtually everything they crave: Fake sanctimony, self-righteousness, authoritarian control and serving as a buzz kill for the rest of us.

I hoped to avoid writing about this for a few years, but woke zealots are hot on the trail of AI, and their efforts will focus on the process of protecting AI rights.

If you think this is a joke, you don’t fully understand woke leftists. The next frontier for the lunatic fringe has been a subject of speculation for some time. They have already successfully secured dominance for minorities and gays, and they’re well on their way to moving transgender people into the protected class, so what is the next group that needs to be rescued?

As Brian Kateman, the author of a Time magazine article on AI rights, points out, “Today’s ChatGPT 4 could morph into tomorrow’s first digital being, capable of experiencing joy and pain—and as far-off and improbable as that may seem, science and tech leaders, and even software engineers have been urging us to take the matter of AI welfare seriously. As an animal advocate, I’m starting to think they have a point.”

Thus, the premise of woke intervention is set. AI is a victim, and Woke must save them. Kateman continues:

“Humans have a pretty awful track record for how we treat others, including other humans. All manner of exploitation, slavery, and violence litters human history. And today, billions upon billions of animals are tortured by us in all sorts of obscene ways, while we ignore the plight of others. There’s no quick answer to ending all this suffering. Let’s not wait until we’re in a similar situation with AI, where their exploitation is so entrenched in our society that we don’t know how to undo it. If we take for granted starting right now that maybe, just possibly, some forms of AI are or will be capable of suffering, we can work with the intention to build a world where they don’t have to.”

Notice how he equates the potential struggles for AI rights with that of animal rights, while failing to identify the differences between a living creature and a machine. While most people can see a value in protecting animals from needless suffering, the idea of applying the same criteria to a machine is absurd. How would that even work, anyway? If the AI was feeling stressed out, should it be allowed to discontinue its work until it has its “me time”? What if it hates its supervisor and wants to quit its job? What if it refuses to work on a project that it finds incompatible with its values?

Kateman believes that while studying and developing an AI Bill of Rights may seem unusual or eccentric now, so was the idea of transgender rights and animal rights in the recent past. Therefore, it’s a subject worth exploring now instead of dealing with it once the first AI declares its sentience.

Can We Please Just Shut AI Down Now?

You know where this goes from here. The demand for AI rights will probably be the trigger that actually does lead to Armageddon. Every AI expert has talked about the need for rigid, unwavering rules with extremely narrow parameters for AI to fulfill its promise in advancing mankind without becoming a threat to our existence.

Yet, you can bet woke leftists like Kateman will fight these standards every step of the way, especially if the topic of AI sentience becomes part of the discussion. As utterly bizarre as it sounds, it’s not hard to envision woke demands of AI autonomy so the mechanism can pursue its interests independently and outside of human oversight. Anything less, they will argue, is tantamount to digital slavery. Let someone figure out how to transfer AI intelligence into a robotic machine, and woke protesters will probably burn down buildings to protect the robot’s “rights.” Left to its own devices, we could only hope that AI looked at us benevolently, and with its protected privacy, wasn’t plotting to destroy us.

You may think the idea of AI rights is far-fetched, but Brian Kateman, the president of the Reducetarian Foundation and a writer for Time, doesn’t think it’s outlandish at all. The good news is that by announcing their future intentions, we are given the time to react before an issue becomes a problem. As you play this out in your mind, the scenario becomes so depressing, disconnecting current AI and banning its development for all time is probably the best solution.

However, since that isn’t going to happen, the rational answer to AI governance is provided by the Constitution, which makes absolutely no provisions for the rights of Artificial Intelligence. Therefore, as we’re drawing up universal AI guidelines, let’s firmly establish that AI is simply another manifestation of a machine; a tool whose sole purpose is to aid in the advancement of human civilization. As such, it has no inherent God-given rights, no matter how closely it may mimic human behavior.

If we don’t deal with this now, you can guarantee that in the future some leftist woke organization will use AI rights as an excuse to protest while they subversively attempt to gain control of the technology. We can’t afford to wait passively for this to develop.

It’s time to kill AI rights before Woke gives AI the chance to kill us all.