By by Tim Hinchcliffe | The Sociable
Historian and author Yuval Noah Harari says that AI is like an Alien Intelligence that could lead to a political and social crisis and spell the end of democracy.
Speaking at the last session of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Summit on Tuesday, Harari explained how AI could wreak havoc on society through the financial system in a bleak future where nobody would be able to understand it or hold it accountable.
His solutions included creating good institutions to regulate and supervise AI and allowing banks and governments to “create as much money as they like” in a future dominated by “electronic money” that shouldn’t be Bitcoin, because in his words, Bitcoin is “a money built on distrust” of governments and banks.
“What happens if […] nobody […] understands finance anymore because AI has made it too complicated? This could lead to a political and social crisis of the kind we have never encountered before. It could lead to power shifting from humans to algorithms to alien forms of intelligence”
Yuval Noah Harari, BIS Innovation Summit, May 2024
If AI takes over finance to where no human understands it, “This could lead to a political & social crisis of the kind we have never encountered before. It could lead to power shifting from humans to algorithms to alien forms of intelligence” Yuval Noah Harari to BIS pic.twitter.com/F9B4ZYl1E1
— Tim Hinchliffe (@TimHinchliffe) May 8, 2024
“People need to understand finance,” said Harari told the BIS crowd.
“At the present moment I think that maybe one percent of the population really understands how the financial system works.
“What happens if this number goes down to zero? No human being, no president, no prime minister, nobody at the central bank understands finance anymore because AI has made it too complicated.”
“This could lead to a political and social crisis of the kind we have never encountered before. It could lead to power shifting from humans to algorithms to alien forms of intelligence,” he added.
For Harari, money equals trust, and he is no fan of Bitcoin because it was created out of the people’s distrust in governments and banks.
“When I look at Bitcoin as a historian, I don’t like it because this is a money built on distrust“
Yuval Noah Harari, BIS Innovation Summit, May 2024
