, PLEASE USE THIS DOCUMENT AS A GUIDE ONLY
1. Write a short essay discussing how artificial intelligence (AI) is likely to influence human life
during the 21st century.
The Silicon Mirror: Artificial Intelligence and the Reconfiguration of Human Life in the 21st
Century
The 21st century is poised to be defined by humanity's intricate and often fraught relationship with
artificial intelligence (AI). As Nick Bostrom (2015) observes in his TED Talk, the human species is
a "recently arrived guest" on this planet, and the next major leap in our substrate of thinking is likely
to be a technological one. However, rather than a simple narrative of salvation or doom, the
influence of AI promises to be a complex dialectic of opportunity and challenge, reshaping our
economy, our ethics, and our fundamental understanding of ourselves. The trajectory of AI is not
predetermined; it is a reflection of the choices we make now, and its ultimate impact will be
determined by how we manage its potential while mitigating its profound risks.
To evaluate the influence of AI, it is first necessary to assess the current capabilities of these systems
relative to human intelligence. Bostrom (2015) notes that a paradigm shift has occurred in the field,
moving from handcrafted expert systems to machine learning algorithms that can learn from raw
perceptual data—much like a human infant. This has enabled AI to exceed human performance in
several narrow domains. For instance, AI systems have defeated world champions in complex
strategic games such as Go and chess, and they demonstrate superior pattern recognition in medical
imaging, often detecting anomalies in radiology scans with greater accuracy than human
practitioners (Topol, 2019). In data analysis, AI excels at processing vast datasets to identify
correlations and trends that would be impossible for humans to discern unaided.
However, important limitations remain. Bostrom (2015) himself acknowledges that "AI is still
nowhere near having the same powerful, cross-domain ability to learn and plan as a human being
has," adding that "the cortex still has some algorithmic tricks that we don't yet know how to match in
machines." Current AI systems are predominantly narrow or 'weak' AI, excelling only in the specific
tasks for which they are trained. They lack general intelligence—the capacity to apply knowledge
and reasoning across diverse, unfamiliar contexts. For example, while an AI can diagnose a disease
from an image, it cannot explain its reasoning in a way that a human doctor can, nor can it navigate
the complex social and ethical dimensions of patient care (Marcus & Davis, 2019). Thus, while AI
has surpassed human performance in certain isolated domains, it remains fundamentally limited in its
ability to replicate the flexibility, common sense, and holistic understanding that characterise human
intelligence.
The economic implications of these capabilities are profound. The question of whether AI will lead
to mass job displacement or the creation of new forms of work is being answered in real-time, with
evidence suggesting a combination of both. Frey and Osborne (2017) famously estimated that 47%
of US jobs are at high risk of automation, a projection that has sparked widespread concern about
technological unemployment. However, more nuanced analyses suggest that AI will not simply
eliminate jobs but will fundamentally transform them. The World Economic Forum (2020) projects
that while 85 million jobs may be displaced by AI by 2025, 97 million new roles may emerge that
are better adapted to the new division of labour between humans, machines, and algorithms. These
new roles are likely to be in areas requiring human skills that AI cannot easily replicate, such as
creativity, emotional intelligence, and complex problem-solving (Autor, 2015).
1. Write a short essay discussing how artificial intelligence (AI) is likely to influence human life
during the 21st century.
The Silicon Mirror: Artificial Intelligence and the Reconfiguration of Human Life in the 21st
Century
The 21st century is poised to be defined by humanity's intricate and often fraught relationship with
artificial intelligence (AI). As Nick Bostrom (2015) observes in his TED Talk, the human species is
a "recently arrived guest" on this planet, and the next major leap in our substrate of thinking is likely
to be a technological one. However, rather than a simple narrative of salvation or doom, the
influence of AI promises to be a complex dialectic of opportunity and challenge, reshaping our
economy, our ethics, and our fundamental understanding of ourselves. The trajectory of AI is not
predetermined; it is a reflection of the choices we make now, and its ultimate impact will be
determined by how we manage its potential while mitigating its profound risks.
To evaluate the influence of AI, it is first necessary to assess the current capabilities of these systems
relative to human intelligence. Bostrom (2015) notes that a paradigm shift has occurred in the field,
moving from handcrafted expert systems to machine learning algorithms that can learn from raw
perceptual data—much like a human infant. This has enabled AI to exceed human performance in
several narrow domains. For instance, AI systems have defeated world champions in complex
strategic games such as Go and chess, and they demonstrate superior pattern recognition in medical
imaging, often detecting anomalies in radiology scans with greater accuracy than human
practitioners (Topol, 2019). In data analysis, AI excels at processing vast datasets to identify
correlations and trends that would be impossible for humans to discern unaided.
However, important limitations remain. Bostrom (2015) himself acknowledges that "AI is still
nowhere near having the same powerful, cross-domain ability to learn and plan as a human being
has," adding that "the cortex still has some algorithmic tricks that we don't yet know how to match in
machines." Current AI systems are predominantly narrow or 'weak' AI, excelling only in the specific
tasks for which they are trained. They lack general intelligence—the capacity to apply knowledge
and reasoning across diverse, unfamiliar contexts. For example, while an AI can diagnose a disease
from an image, it cannot explain its reasoning in a way that a human doctor can, nor can it navigate
the complex social and ethical dimensions of patient care (Marcus & Davis, 2019). Thus, while AI
has surpassed human performance in certain isolated domains, it remains fundamentally limited in its
ability to replicate the flexibility, common sense, and holistic understanding that characterise human
intelligence.
The economic implications of these capabilities are profound. The question of whether AI will lead
to mass job displacement or the creation of new forms of work is being answered in real-time, with
evidence suggesting a combination of both. Frey and Osborne (2017) famously estimated that 47%
of US jobs are at high risk of automation, a projection that has sparked widespread concern about
technological unemployment. However, more nuanced analyses suggest that AI will not simply
eliminate jobs but will fundamentally transform them. The World Economic Forum (2020) projects
that while 85 million jobs may be displaced by AI by 2025, 97 million new roles may emerge that
are better adapted to the new division of labour between humans, machines, and algorithms. These
new roles are likely to be in areas requiring human skills that AI cannot easily replicate, such as
creativity, emotional intelligence, and complex problem-solving (Autor, 2015).
