AI & Fools

My new passport has just arrived, fittingly issued on April Fool's Day. That it is tacky, tiny, lacking the superb artistry of previous versions, fits post-Brexit Britain’s chaotic government which is made up of more April Fools than usual. Once highly regarded by those we knew in France where we lived for 12 years, ‘sensible Britain’ is now a flailing joke. We who suffer Brexit’s fall-out scratch our heads in despair, for the political opposition is no better.

Left to deal with the consequences of governance more interested in profit than the people with MPs playing political games, we bravely flounder onwards. From the shambolic handling of the pandemic to the ongoing chaos of Brexit, many of us are feeling frustrated and disillusioned with our leaders. But what’s new. Tony Blair, who ignored us to help the USA reap havoc, destruction and murder across Iraq, still states that he and Bush did the right thing. We need a new system, for democracy as it is is not working, mind you, the opposite manifest in places such as Russia, Arabia and China is less enticing.

Our lost leaders talks floridly about Climate Change, yet open coal mines, oil and gas field and state nuclear power is sustainable. They have also allowed water companies to kill our rivers and foul our seaside with impunity. Why don’t they help us and nature, for our future is dependent on it?

Of course, it's not all doom and gloom. Despite the challenges facing the UK, there are still plenty of reasons this nation is OK, from our rich cultural heritage, our free National Health Service, our innovative university, science and business sectors. With a new generation of young and engaged citizens stepping up to the plate, there is hope that we can emerge from our current difficulties stronger and more united than before. But why are we still blind to Climate Change?

Will our rapidly advancing Artificial Intelligence lead us better than our human leaders or will it decide we are too toxic for the Planet and get rid of us? My first reaction is that we are the most disastrous species ever created and perhaps we need a detached controller such as AI, but one that is programmed not to do harm to us or nature, but to foster cooperation, empathy and kindness.

This country is fertile ground, for while the government may be a joke, the people are anything but. We may have our flaws, but we are resilient and determined and have proven capable of achieving great things when we work together. Let's hope that this brings us competent leaders who take note of, and start working for the good of the people, instead of just themselves. If so, we may be capable of meeting the urgent challenges of a rapidly changing world, of thinking about nature as paramount and of us being guardians of this fragile Planet’s ecology at every scale.

Apology -

Because these blogs are quickly written thoughts unedited, I don't really reread them and hence leave in mistakes. My last blog stated that "all I found...." (in India) was ..... The 'all' ought to have read - 'one of the things I found....'.