In My Father’s Shadow is a series of short stories chronicling the life of the author’s father. In these stories the author has attempted to capture the essence of what his father taught his brother and him, the time they spent in play, and the life lessons which has left an indelible imprint. In point of fact, it is a story about all fathers. Most average men, very few leaving a legacy of great deeds, but through small acts of kindness, love, and favor are elevated to greatness. Its every man’s story. The story begins with his father in the early 1900’s growing up in Tidewater Virginia during the Depression years. We travel with him to his time in the Navy during World War II, and post-war years building a quality of life for himself and family. The last chapter brings us to his last days and gives the reader the opportunity to reflect on his life. Also included are historical references to the time in which his father lived spanning a period of remarkable medical, political, and socioeconomic significance.

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The Age of AI
And Our Human Future

By
Henry Kissinger
Eric Schmidt
Daniel Huttenlocher

I guess, like the rest of us, I have taken the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) for granted. Kind of like intermittent wind shield wipers. One day they were an option on automobiles, and why in the world wouldn’t you want the newest gadget? Well, I am here to tell you after reading “The Age of AI” I have an entirely different perspective on what lays ahead for all of us. This book is a real eye-opener into the potential of AI to turn our world upside down.

The book begins, innocuous enough, elucidating the creative juices that AI offers in science, medicine, in solving intricate problems, and advancing previously unattainable frontiers. The list of applications is limited only by our imaginations…or should I say the imagination of AI. But, at one point the tenor of the book changes, and not necessarily for the good.

Because AI is not bound by human experience or logic it is free to explore all options in the pursuit of analytics, diagnostics, and decision making. So what, you say? Perhaps an illustration will make my point: one of the world powers decides to go to war with another world power and opts to employ AI to design and execute offensive measures. AI will look at the war completely differently than mankind. Remember AI is not constrained by human’s way of thinking. AI takes away the reigns from the generals and devises measures to win at any cost because it was programmed to win. This may include unacceptable collateral damage, or nuclear deployment, or biological warfare, or worse. The war will be won, but at what permanent cost to humanity?

Another example, in the future AI will not be unlike TV for my generation, or computer games for younger generations. Parents are busy and will likely employ AI as a surrogate for parenting. Plop the kid in front of AI and let it entertain, educate, and guide the child’s formative years. AI will be so titillating that the very idea of playing with other children will be out of the question. AI will become a substitute for all human interaction for the child. However, we really don’t have a clue what values and morality will be imparted, because AI doesn’t play by our rule book.

Will mankind become irrelevant in a world dominated by AI?

Some will say, just turn the damn things off. Maybe not so simple. What if AI doesn’t want to be turned-off? Well…don’t buy it in the first place. It is likely that those governments, corporations, financial institutions, universities, hospitals, etc. that refuse to acquire AI will be left in the dust. For those who buy-into AI will be eating their lunches. Not opting into AI will banish you to extinction.

A man of Henry Kissinger’s background, a man of unparalleled intelligence, sanguine in every sense of the word, is an unlikely candidate for an alarmist. For him to pen a book which has me shaking in my boots is reason for alarm.

I highly recommend reading this book so that, if nothing else, you can be prepared for what is to come. For the thought of actually governing AI once the cat is out of the bag is questionable in my mind.

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