Humans have two fundamental abilities— physical and cognitive. Majority of today’s professionals— designers, doctors, lawyers, civil servants, scientists and software engineers derive their worth not from their physical ability, but from their cognitive capacity.
Industrial Revolution had rendered physical labour mostly irrelevant; Artificial Intelligence (AI) revolution is now set to make our cognitive abilities redundant. Self-driving cars are on the cusp of taking over transportation, algorithms are gaining the ability to produce poems, compose music, draft news reports and translate literature books accurately. What if a sufficiently advanced AI gains enough power and dexterity to replace even doctors, engineers and scientists?
Even if such a scenario plays out, I believe sports and performing arts would remain insulated from an AI onslaught precisely because the appeal of both these fields stems from human performance. For instance, technological advancement in sports has provided modern athletes with scientific diets, better training and computer aids to devise the perfect game strategy, but the athletes themselves aren’t in any way different from say, marathon runners of classical Greece. We pay to watch these athletes perform and compete within the realm of human possibility and we steadfastly detest technology having an overbearing impact on the game. This is why FIA regulates car wingspan, ATP restricts racquet size and every sporting authority bans drug use.
I believe even with a supremely advanced AI, people would still come to watch an inferior, slower and less agile human species battling it out on the field, than watch two machines engage in a pointless duel. An AI doctor might be in greater demand for diagnosing cancer, but no one would want to watch an AI footballer dribble its way past humans and score a goal. Even in the game of chess, ever since IBM’s Deep Blue beat Kasparov in 1997, the supremacy of machines over humans remains undisputed, but there’s hardly any allure for AI chess tournaments.
Regardless of how intelligent and dexterous machines might become, sportsmen and performing artists will remain invaluable to our society. In a future world inundated by AI, I wouldn’t be surprised if the most popular aspiration among kids is not on becoming doctors or scientists but on becoming the next Lionel Messi.
” I write to find what I think ” Stephen King , this is indeed, inspiring Anudeep I even tagged you in my story on instagram, the word you pen down is just goes straight to my nerves and deep understanding , you have audacity to fetch the dead soul alive through your inspiring words, you made see the world which really exist and that is one’s dream, and working hard to achieve that particular, which will remain constant as proud and smile .
Thank you for all those words of igniting minds and hearts.
“A word after a word after word is a power” margaret atwood
You are absolutely right sir. This article has a very deep meaning and i believe choosing sports and performing arts as profession will bring a lot of satisfaction and happiness and a healthy life.
But sir, I think we are only talking about AI and its impact on cognitive ability and thinking physical ability would be of high value in the future but we also should consider the impact of science & technology in the field of genetics in future, the genome editing can be a game changer in the field of sports, bringing out the best of the abilities of a human.
You seem to be a professional in giving a sharp n precisely furnished expression of thought and equally artistic in injecting your arguments provided proper reasons and references….
You have such a stunning skill in writing…but…how come you fail the mains thrice….??????
Thanks, we are fortunate. Reading a good article always gives more pleasure than watching a video explaining the same content.
Futuristic and optimistic. Can’t agree more. Tegmark’s analogy says it all. 🙂
It definitely makes for an interesting read.different from usual blogging topics.please keep posting such stuff. tnx 🙂
Thank you, Adarsh.
Will keep the blog updated about my training at LBSNAA.
I focused on robotics, i was wrong there