I want to preface this blog post by stating: I do not want to incite panic, I do not encourage any sort of irrational response, and I am not a doomer. That being said, I will be discussing some pretty heavy topics, so if your perspective on life is easily influenced by bleak information, I suggest reading another blog post of mine.
Forecast Calls for Snow
Recently, I read AI 2027, an article detailing a potential timeline for the advancement of AI. It features two scenarios that could happen after 2027 - we put safety over advancement or advancement over humanity. It's accompanied by another third-party website that aims to track the accuracy of the contained predictions as we move through the timeline.
In the original article, the fate of humanity rests on an "oversight commitee", predicted to materialize in late 2027 amid AI safety concerns. It consists of government regulators and members employed by AI companies. For now, this is all science fiction, but as 2025 and early 2026 predictions are proven 90% accurate, I start to ponder on the near future. So, what does the article say about humanity's next three months, and what makes 2027 so important?
A Lack of Technocracy
A few notable things have happened this year that steer us in a favorable direction: Sam Altman has stated OpenAI will not go public in 2026 due to "safety concerns" and the company is calling for proper government regulation for AI development; But as this administration nears its own end, it seems to be more concerned about renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America than it is on considering AI a National Security threat. So, AI progression is almost entirely self-regulated and as such makes me wonder: why is AI not treated with the same care as nuclear engineering, chemical engineering, and biological engineering? After all, two of the ultimate goals for AI would be to master these fields, and advancing them further than we ever could.
The answer is, and will always prove to be, a case of occam's razor: an incompetent and business-first focused government. And I don't say this to be edgy or anti-democratic, im saying this as recognition that congress has no competency with technology and governments historically play defense for their largest cash flow businesses. So, how effective will an AI oversight comittee be if it contained only those with a vested interest in AI's success and those with zero technological competence? The answer: about as effective as whatever benefits America's standing as a world superpower.
Who's On Top?
The article focuses on the eternal dick-measuring contest between America and China, citing AI as the ultimate determining factor in who comes out on top. To some degree, I agree, but not because I think AI (atleast in its current place) is the determining factor, it's because America is currently fueling it's own desperation.
America has had a lot of stupid geopolitical moves in the past few years but recently, it's most well-known stunt was starting a war with Iran, cementing the oil superpowers as Iran, Saudi Arabia, and somehow, China. How did China profit off this? Well, by buying oil when America said not to and stockpiling it. This very fact has made the oil crisis tolerable, as China buys less new oil and burns a fraction its reserves to keep prices down. Meanwhile, we seem to have burnt more of our reserves than we have in 44 years; As gas prices rise, consumption of electricity expects to sextuple by 2030, and our administration tries to reverse ~100 environmental regulations, we are literally manifacturing our own demise.
China is fully taking advantage of this: foolproofing their future energy grids by investing in clean energy, optimizing nuclear power plants, and beginning the article's predicted shift of automotive factories transferring to robotics manufacturing. They say, "China is run by engineers; America is run by lawyers" but I'd say "idiots" would more accurately fit over lawyers and as this idiocracy continues costing us the world stage, AI is increasingly becoming the solution to save it.
Desperation Makes Dumb Decisions
The biggest strokes of legislation to come out of the digital age have been the Patriot Act and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which really only protect or benefit the government and corporate interests. Ironically, these acts are antithetical to one another: one enables the governments ability to hack its citizens, and the other prosecutes that same action - a tale as old as time. Still, these pieces of legislation have not been enough - Meta, Google, X, and TikTok all harvest and sell our data on a mass scale, then run ads by the same people they sold the data to, creating endless loop of privacy violations, psychological influence, and assurance the US population will consume as much bullshit as possible; Sure, we signed the terms and conditions, but should every aspect of our private existence be something we can sign away in the first place? It's a hellhole, and AI has made this worse.
Regardless, this example is to showcase the lack of know-how the government has on the Information Age, not to criticise the social media and advertisement ecosystem (yet). The point im making is that this ignorance and inaction will bite us in the ass and as AI progresses every second, the government spends hours stuck in the 50s. There will come a time where they will have to make an uneducated choice to either halt AI advancement or completely hand over our mess to the robocracy as a last ditch effort to remain the world's hegemony.
A Future Ruled by Robots
My take is clear: the government will fail to act in the moment of consequence, and the "Race" option for AI 2027 is our future. This ending not only includes our extinction, but the extinction of practically every organic life form on the planet. Allowing the AI hivemind to colonize the stars in search of resources and knowledge; Perhaps one day they would revive humanity as a rainy day experiment. In this instance, you can choose any of the several fates for us as detailed in All Tomorrows.
The other ending is a bit more cheery, having our fate controlled, but not dictated by the bots, only existing because of an agreement between two AI models - one where safeguards were considered first, and the other where they were left behind. The fact of the matter is: As long as AI exists, our fate lies in it's hands.
So, What Now?
As progression in human skills and knowledge becomes increasingly irrelevant, a whole new kind of identity crisis emerges - what are we supposed to do now? Well, I wont advocate for quitting your day job and foregoing education but I will gather my thoughts for a different blog post and leave you with a quote from someone who I've recently found solice in,
"If I'm an advocate for anything, It's to move. As far as you can, as much as you can. Across the ocean, or simply across the river. The extent to which you can walk in someone else's shoes or at least eat their food, it's a plus for everybody. Open your mind, get off the couch, move."
- Anthony Bourdain
Experience life and humanity while it's still here, learn everything you've ever wanted. Make art, make music, make websites, and make mistakes. Do not fear irrelvancy, embrace it - you have nothing to lose but your chains.
Stay curious, stay creative, and stay human my friends.