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The 134th Peking University Medical Humanities Forum: Insights into the AI Explosion and its Consequences with Futurological Thinking

Lecture Information:

Time: May 06, 2024 (Monday) 9:00-11:00 (Beijing Time)

Venue:Room 620, Yifu Teaching Building

Speaker:  Professor Liu Yidong (Institute of History of Natural Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Moderator:  Professor Tang Wenpei (School of Health Humanities, Peking University)

Panelist: Professor Zhang Daqing (School of Health Humanities, Peking University)



Lecture Title: Is it the Fourth Industrial Revolution or a Catastrophe Approaching?- Insights into the AI Explosion and its Consequences with Futurological Thinking



Abstract:

It is generally believed that AI will trigger the fourth industrial revolution, and based on the historical experience of the previous industrial revolutions, which brought about huge productivity gains and economic prosperity, the prospects of the fourth industrial revolution are looked forward to. However, general artificial intelligence (AGI) is not a new tool but a new species, and AGI will be realized within a few years, when not only 99% of human beings will be unemployed, but AGI arms race will occur, which is tens of thousands of times more dangerous than nuclear arms race, knowledge destruction will occur, and even more terrifyingly, silicon-based life will begin to replace carbon-based life, and human safety is in jeopardy, and humanity is on the brink of extinction. Using futurological thinking to perceive the AI explosion and its consequences, looking at the future from the perspective of today, getting rid of the limitations of experiential thinking, and taking decisive action to urgently halt the development of AGI and embark on a new path of breakthrough. China should not follow the old path of Western science and technology, which is characterized by "pollution first, then governance, innovation first, then ethics," and should lead the new scientific and technological revolution, new industrial revolution, and new distribution revolution, and realize a major transformation in the mode of science and technology and social development, creating a new mode of sustainable and secure development of science and technology and social governance, and accelerating the building of a community with a shared future for humanity.