In a recent CNBC interview, Warren Buffett, a nonagenarian and one of the greatest investors in our lifetimes, compared the climate of fear that arose in the wake of the development and use of the atom bomb to the fear that is currently accompanying the launch of generative artificial intelligence (AI).  And, while genetic engineering has been the subject of far fewer headlines and less reported fear, the implications of the recent implantation of a genetically altered pig heart into a human for the second time should also give us pause. 

Generative AI, the atom bomb, and genetic engineering are all technologies that have the potential to be immensely beneficial and destructive.  All three are complex and powerful tools that can be used for either good or evil.  And, each shares a common denominator, which deserves much more examination within contemporary conversation: namely the role of the users (i.e., human kind or us).

1. Generative AI can be used to improve and create new products and services, can be used to solve complex problems, and can be used to diagnose disease and create personalized treatment plans.  However, it can also be used for harmful purposes, including for the creation of misleading content, such as in disinformation, propaganda, and / or phishing campaigns. 

2. The nuclear technology underlying the atom bomb can be used to generate electricity, to power spacecraft, and to treat cancer.  However, it can also be used to create weapons of mass destruction that can instantly kill millions of people or be used to destroy the entire planet by triggering a global extinction event.

3. Genetic engineering can be used to improve crops, to develop new medical treatments, and to create patentable new forms of life.  Take the recent genetic engineering of a pig to create a platform that is capable of growing human compatible organs for transplant.  A prescient and unavoidable question arises.  How many changes can be applied to a pig’s gene loci before the result is more human than pig? 

For all three technologies, the use-cases are important differentiating factors.  The ethical considerations are profound.  For example, at what point does a genetically engineered life form become entitled to the same basic rights and protections as a human being?  And, similarly at what point does AI become sentient enough to be granted human rights?

Overall, generative AI, the atom bomb, and genetic engineering are all powerful technologies with the simultaneous potential to be immensely beneficial (good) and immensely destructive (evil).  The benefits and dangers of these technologies must be continuously assessed to ensure their ongoing safe development and use.  Moreover, the required discussion is far too important to allow it to take place in secret or to allow it to be dominated by a few technology companies and by a limited number of government officials.  These technologies could impact all of humanity.  So, we all deserve a greater say in how they are developed and used.  A community-wide heart-to-heart conversation and socialization is desperately needed to ensure that the good use-cases greatly outnumber the evil ones. 

In the gospel song It’s Gonna Rain, the Sensational Nightingales exclaim, “If something don’t happen to the heart of man … It won’t be water, but fire the next time.”  We have been forewarned.  This is not the first time that a new technology has been accompanied by an existential threat.  In each case, the real threat is reflected in our collective mirrors.  I’m hoping that we act before the fire starts.  God willing, I'm hopeful we can avoid it won't be water, but AI the next time.