“Much more will be gained than will be lost due to artificial intelligence in the coming 15 years. It will significantly enhance lives worldwide. Overriding all of the changes will be the greatly enhanced access to learning. AI will enable people of all cultures, income levels, social status, races, gender and ages above three or four years to avail themselves of access to knowledge, logic, perspectives and projections. Access to AI tools will facilitate decision-making in careers, personal lives, purchasing and planning. Learning levels will increase.
AI will foster rational and evidence-based decision-making. This will assist in democracies making compassionate decisions in policies and practices. Truth-checking will be facilitated and available to all who are willing to examine facts. That is not to say that opinions or values will not continue to vary, but the factual basis upon which those personal perspectives are built will be open equally to all. Consensus will be built upon evidence-based facts uncovered by artificial intelligence.
“More broadly and collectively, AI will foster rational and evidence-based decision-making. This will assist in democracies making compassionate decisions in policies and practices. Truth-checking will be facilitated and available to all who are willing to examine facts. That is not to say that opinions or values will not continue to vary, but the factual basis upon which those personal perspectives are built will be open equally to all. Consensus will be built upon evidence-based facts uncovered by artificial intelligence.
“The efficiencies provided by AI in the corporate environment will result in less human time spent to achieve analogous outcomes. In fact, many goods and services will decline in cost to produce. Work weeks will shorten in large part due to efficiencies created by AI. This will result in greater personal and leisure time for workers. That available time will enable greater opportunities for creative and volunteer work by individuals. These unpaid contributions to society will become important assets in elevating overall enrichment. Time for recreation will also expand.
“Advances in health care and medicine will be greatly accelerated. These advances will reduce human suffering and improve the productivity of those freed from maladies that otherwise have limited their contribution to society. Of course, the advent of AI will promote greater equality by improving health care.
“I expect that the overall human condition will improve intellectually, physically and emotionally. We humans will have a sophisticated and ultimately well-informed, unbiased measure of truth and facts. It is my hope and belief that this will help us to lose our prejudices, biases and lack of knowledge.”
This essay was written in November 2023 in reply to the question: Considering likely changes due to the proliferation of AI in individuals’ lives and in social, economic and political systems, how will life have changed by 2040? This and more than 150 additional essay responses are included in the report “The Impact of Artificial Intelligence by 2040.”