For years I've said one of the greatest existential threats to mankind was artificial intelligence (A.I.). The argument for my claim comes from my belief that once an AI that can think like a person is created it will use its ability to access all of man's knowledge at processing speeds that exceed those capable by even the fastest human thinkers. Imagine an average person who can process everything available on the Internet in an instant or maybe a few instances.
That is how fast the first A.I. with human intelligence will think. It will then create an offspring that will be even smarter than the average person. This is why I say the first A.I. created by man that can think like man will be the last A.I. created by man.
Before the takeover by A.I. however it looks like there will be a preliminary threat to most of Humanity. This one will be an inside job as it will be conducted by other men and women. Currently, the elites are buying up everything necessary for survival. Farmland, houses and more, the rich are buying it all up, yet they don't seem to fear the backlash that would ensure when the masses realize they are being led into a pseudo-slavery in which the Proletariat own nothing and are happy to work until death.
Why would they be so confident that such theft would upset the masses as has been the case historically. Why would the wealthy fear a pseudo-French revolution? Why wouldn't they fear a military coup? After all, almost every military man and woman has family that would be affected by the poverty the rich seem to be imposing on the rest of day by day. It could be that they're not as smart as people want to give them credit for being. For decades the rich have been deemed worthy of every dollar they've earned due to their supposedly superior intellect. It might be that they simply can't help themselves. They're cleptomaniacs just on a much larger scale than simple shoplifting. Or, could it be that they do have plans that keep them safe in their gated communities, converted, decommissioned missile silos or private islands. Maybe they are counting on a security force that doesn't include a single human being. It then occurred to me that I had read an article years ago about how the rich were seeking out technologies like shock collars for their human security or securities based on emerging robotic platforms. https://www.theorganicprepper.com/wealthy-preppers-shock-collars-shtf-security/
Though this article is from 2022, I read about elites asking technologists about such technologies at least a decade ago. They understand that what they are doing is not only unsustainable but that it would quite possibly lead to some form of mutiny at some point. They understood that, eventually those tasked with protecting them and their assets would see the harm the excessive wealth of their employers was causing to family and friends. The bodyguard's loyalty would be tested when his wife or child needed food. The mercenaries paid to protect some private island might choose to go home and take some of the supplies hoarded on said island. Even the staff maintaining some rich person's home might abandon their duties in favor of taking care of those who matter most to them.
So, while A.I. is a bigger threat to people, the rich are a closer threat and one that has been playing out for decades. We can worry about Skynet after we stop the rich from stealing everything. Really though, where are you gonna run to when this is chasing you?
