The New Wild West

If you live in United States or any country with a value system stemming from liberal European ideas then you inhabit a part of the world known as The West. This comes with a certain set of ideals and cultural norms that make it distinct from the rest of the world. Typically those ideas are rooted in liberalism as opposed to communism, fascism, or authoritarianism. 

In the West we value personal freedoms and the upward mobility of those willing to toil for it. We put a high value on the freedom of speech and press, freedom of religion, the separation of church and state, and the right to due process and equality before the law.

The old Wild West is a reference to the largely lawless and dangerous lands associated with the westward expansion of the United States beyond the Mississippi River. Those pioneers that took on the adventure encountered untamed wilderness filled with predatory animals, relentless elements, imposing terrain, and a native population that wasn’t willing to part with their way of life without a fight. It also held the possibility of a better life and riches beyond comprehension. 

It was enticing to many. Great risk could result in great reward. Those that succeeded could build a future and a world of their own design. There was great courage and achievement in this national endeavor. However, there is much now known about that history that is, or at least should be, a source of our collective shame. We used a hammer on a job where we probably should have used a scalpel. 

Those were different times with different values and norms. Also, history rarely looks fondly upon many of the actions of our past generations. That doesn’t excuse the behavior or tactics, but it does give us an understanding of our past. Have we learned much? History is documented and studied so that we can learn. So that we can use that knowledge to make decisions for the future and hopefully not repeat mistakes. It would seem that we are again running about blindfolded with a hammer where a microscope and scalpel would be more apt tools?

An early motto of one of our largest and most powerful tech companies was, ‘move fast and break things’. While that motto may have been changed years ago, it doesn’t mean that the culture and attitude it embodied has changed. I am not only speaking of the attitude of that specific company but of almost all of the large tech companies vying for position and market share. We are currently in the throes of the Artificial Intelligence revolution. This is the fuel of the New Wild West. 

Artificial Intelligence is the most powerful tool in the history of our species. There is currently unfathomable financial incentive to be the first to successfully implement this technology in our daily lives. It is such a large financial incentive that it has all but dissolved any incentive to attempt to implement it responsibly. 

This is the reason that I refer to it as the New Wild West. It comes with all the promises of unfathomable riches as well as the myriad of unforeseen and unknowable dangers. However, many of these dangers will not be felt by those developing the tech directly. Instead, the population at large will feel the impact and this technology could have the capacity to fully tear the already fraying strands of the fabric of our society.

We are essentially creating another species of possibly sentient and conscious beings. A new intelligent force that could rival, and almost assuredly far surpass, our own. I’ll lay out a few issues to consider when thinking about this, regardless of your level of understanding of this technology.

The first is the Alignment Issue. How do we ensure that a self-learning system will be in alignment with our values? This can be taken to the extreme, which you’re probably aware of with Hollywood movies like The Terminator and Matrix franchises. This is where the AI decides to become our overlords. While this may seem like simply an exaggerated movie premise, there are elements of this tech that are a real concern to some folks that have been instrumental in its creation. The philosopher Nick Bostrom addresses this possible problem in an interesting thought experiment called the parable of the paperclip maximizer.

The second issue is that of Inherent Bias. Artificial Intelligence to this point relies largely on what is called Large Language Models. AI uses existing information and data previously created by humans to make connections and predictions. It is basically the ability to access and process massive amounts of information that allow it to mimic a human mind. So naturally included in that large set of information and data is the flawed logic and existing prejudices of our species.

The third major issue is the development of a regulation model. Some think that it is the job of governments to intervene to put restrictions on advancements. Some argue that regulation will halt or hinder growth. However, there are many companies across many countries developing this technology. The first to achieve mass success will have a huge advantage in both economic growth and military prowess. 

If we regulate in the US, does that create an opportunity for foreign companies or governments to leapfrog us? I would think that any attempt to slow progress in one country would have the effect of further incentivizing advancement in a rival county. We’ve very recently seen the effect on the American market when the Chinese company DeepSeek released their chatbot. 

This is the New Wild West because we are entering uncharted territory once again. We don’t know what to really expect. We will encounter the metaphoric untamed wilderness, predatory animals, relentless elements, imposing terrain, and native populations. We just aren’t sure exactly what those metaphorical hazards will look like in real life.. But we seemingly have no choice but to march forward.

Indeed there are counterpoints to all this doomsday talk. There seems a likely chance that this technology will bring about a prosperity that we haven’t yet dreamed. It is entirely possible that this technology is the powerful tool needed to address and solve the massive collective problems such as climate change, wealth inequality, and bring us inline with our ecological environment. 

However, let’s look to another of our species great technological discoveries – the splitting of the atom. When we discovered the generation of energy that could be produced by splitting the atom we didn’t develop a system to harness that energy for the good of mankind. We made it into the most powerful bomb in human history. 

Be kind to your fellow humans. Try to find compassion in all you do. I appreciate your attention and hope you’ve found value in this. Thanks for reading.