“We were cheated,” these are the first words in Marc Andreessen’s new “Technology Optimist Manifesto,” in which the billionaire venture capitalist lays out his views on technology and the free market The latest ideas on the benefits. “We are told that technology takes away our jobs, lowers our wages, increases inequality, threatens our health, destroys the environment, degrades our societies, corrupts our children and undermines our humanity. , threatens our future and is always on the verge of destroying everything. ” But that’s not the case, he thinks. Instead, we must overcome our fear of the “Promethean myth”—yes, that applies to Frankenstein, Oppenheimer, and the Terminator.
The legendary venture capitalist’s 5,000-word manifesto discusses what he sees as technology’s impact on humanity, touching on everything from utopia to the meaning of life. He believes that society is afraid of the “lies” people hear about disruptive new technologies, of which artificial intelligence is just the latest. He strongly suggests that society focuses too much on the cautionary tales of ancient Greece and not enough on Friedrich Nietzsche’s theories of modernity and the “Übermensch,” or Übermensch.
“The myth of Prometheus — in its various newer forms, like Frankenstein, Oppenheimer, and The Terminator — haunts our nightmares,” Anderson wrote on his Substack on Monday. wrote in a manifesto posted on the website of his venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. But dream big, the billionaire said, adding that he was “here to bring good news.”
The cautionary tale of Prometheus
Prometheus was a clever and cunning immortal figure in Greek mythology, famous for stealing fire from the gods and giving it to humans. For this act, he was punished by Zeus by being chained to a rock and having an eagle eat his regenerated liver for eternity. This myth is a warning: some technologies are simply not meant for people to own. Prometheus thought he could make life better for humans by giving them fire, but in doing so he also allowed them to make weapons and wage war.
Anderson applied this metaphor to J. Robert Oppenheimer, later known as the “Father of the Atomic Bomb”American Prometheus” in a Pulitzer Prize-winning biography. By unleashing the overwhelming destruction of the atomic bomb, Oppenheimer apparently stole a kind of fire from the sky and gave it to humanity.
Of course, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was written at the dawn of the age of technological advancement, and James Cameron’s Terminator is a relic of the 1980s fad, but both tell similar stories of technology pitting against its human masters.
The dawn of artificial intelligence is the latest technological advance to be cited as a myth, but Anderson rejects these concerns outright, writing: “Technology is the glory of human ambition and achievement, the vanguard of progress and the realization of our potential.”
“It’s time to raise the technology flag again,” he added. “It’s time to become a technology optimist.”
Nietzsche’s potentialof superman
Anderson has previously discussed his dream of building a labor-free paradise where artificial general intelligence (AGI) – artificial intelligence that can do anything humans can do – will be applied to the economy. The benefits will be distributed to everyone. If it becomes a reality, he estimates that U.S. economic growth could soar to 100% annually (for comparison) 2.1% Now), causing the cost of goods to plummet and consumers’ spending power to become a “cornucopia”.
In fact, according to a June report, the value of the generative artificial intelligence market is expected to surge from $40 billion in 2022 to more than $1.3 trillion over the next 10 years. Bloomberg. Instead of worrying about robots rising up like a modern-day Frankenstein’s monster, Anderson refers viewers to another masterpiece from the period: 19th-century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche’s idea of the überman, or “Superman.” .
Nietzsche grappled with this influence second industrial revolution When he wrote: “Man is a rope between the beast and the superman – a rope hanging over the abyss. The greatness of man is that he is a bridge, not an end.” Simply put, Nietzsche’s The Superman concept is that technology will allow humans to determine their own destiny, as machines will take the place that God previously held. This belief was undoubtedly powerful, but the tragedies of the 20th century also revealed its dangers—a point Anderson partly hinted at in his repeated denunciations of communism.
To be sure, Anderson isn’t the only one claiming that artificial intelligence is the “Fourth Industrial Revolution” or that a new Superman is on the horizon. His peer, venture capital billionaire Masayoshi, spoke to SoftBank investors earlier this year, telling them that ChatGPT made him think about “what is a human being?” He ultimately believes that humans plus artificial intelligence will create a new kind of “superhuman.” ”.
Anderson, who has written a separate manifesto titled “Why Artificial Intelligence Will Save the World” and has previously discussed how humans and artificial intelligence will soon have a “symbiotic relationship,” is clearly in the anti-Frankenstein camp.
He wrote: “We believe that we are, were and will be the masters of technology, rather than being controlled by technology.” “We are not victims, we are conquerors. We believe in nature, but we also believe overcome nature. We are not primitive people cowering in fear of lightning. We are apex predators; lightning works for us. “
Svlook
