The Coming Wave: AI, Power, and Our Future

by Mustafa Suleyman

Technological evolution has been speeding up for centuries. Omni-use features and asymmetric impacts are magnified in the coming wave, but to some extent they’re inherent properties of all technology. That isn’t the case for autonomy. For all of history technology has been “just” a tool, but what if the tool comes to life? Autonomous systems are able to interact with their surroundings and take actions without the immediate approval of humans. For centuries the idea that technology is somehow running out of control, a self-directed and self-propelling force beyond the realms of human agency, remained a fiction. Not anymore. Technology has always been about allowing us to do more, but crucially with humans still doing the doing. It has leveraged our existing abilities and automated precisely codified tasks. Until now, constant oversight and management have been the default. Technology remained to greater or lesser degrees under meaningful human control. Full autonomy is qualitatively different. Take autonomous vehicles. In certain conditions today, they can drive on roads with minimal or no direct input from the driver. Researchers in the field categorize autonomy from level 0, no autonomy whatsoever, to level 5, where a vehicle can drive itself under all conditions and the driver simply inputs a destination and then can fall happily asleep. You won’t find level 5 vehicles on the roads anytime soon, not least for legal and insurance reasons. The new wave of autonomy heralds...

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