It is apparent from reports in the media Elon Musk has met in a closed-door session with Congress to discuss the dangers of Artificial Intellgence (AI). Interviewed afterward, he stated how AI must be regulated, as most prominent technologists now concur.
But he is wrong. This is precisely the reason why post-mortem corrections to laissez-faire governance do not work. You must first govern the theory, then set up the marketplace systems to embed the theory, and then, and only then, establish the rulebook of regulations to which marketplace participants must comply to establish trust in the marketplace systems.
The government is responsible for setting the theory of human gameplay. Preferably before a single game is played or in a more free society soon thereafter. We have not established a theory for humanity, and thus, we cannot gauge whether AI meets the objective of the theory or not. Then, regulation rules are established as a consequence, not a cause of a governing theory. This means that once the human theory is defined and the marketplace criteria identified, the gameplay rules can be established and a referee appointed to enforce them. In the same way, any sports game plan functions today.
The theory of human gameplay must be to improve human adaptability to nature’s entropy. Or else humanity is doomed. Then, technology providers must establish and prove what they do with AI improves human adaptability to nature’s entropy. They must deliver a theory that aligns with the human theory. And only then can we regulate whether the conformance to the human theory is met.
We cannot let AI rule the roost of human efficacy and determine the theory of humanity. But without a theory of humanity established first, the wild goose chase of technology fantasies will surely put a damper on the future and survival of humanity.
The debacle of confounding consequence and cause, as in confounding a rulebook with a theory, is why laissez-faire governance fails in the long run. We are the creators of a fantasy world the world looks up to but miserably fails the most basic litmus test of how it contributes to the strength of human renewal. And it shows. In simpler terms, we deploy gameplay without a game plan, leading to each player doing whatever they like gameplay to be.
We must change how we govern, which, to everyone’s delight, will reduce the need to regulate.
