This is Our world was commissioned by the South Australian Public Primary Schools Music Festival 2023. It is song four, the finale from the new song cycle ‘World of Tomorrow’, a bold new work addressing the impact of technology on a rapidly changing world.
The finale of the song cycle examines one of the most important issues we face as a human race in the 21stCentury – the impact and management of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Stuart Russell, an expert in ‘AI’, Professor of Computer Science and founder of the Centre for Human-Compatible AI at the University of California, argues that human’s reliance on super powerful AI is the most profound change in human history. Examining the impact of AI on jobs, military conflict and human behaviour, Russell believes that our current approach to AI is wrong and that if we continue down this path, we will have less and less control and AI’s impact on our lives will increase. How can we make sure machines do the right thing? We need a way forward based on a new model for AI, one based on machines that learn about and defer to human preferences.
“AI must remain our servant, not our master”, and as our dependency on AI increases, we must not become weakened and irrelevant. We must ALL learn to use AI safely and ethically or we may become powerless to stop it. “As we gradually hand over the management of our civilisation to machines, we lose the ability to do it ourselves and the next generation loses the incentive to learn how to do it.” (Stuart Russell). The chain breaks for good. “Since the dawn of humanity, we have spent a trillion person to person years passing on what we know, our ideas, our inventions, our practices and processes to the next generation, through thousands of generations, keeping civilisation alive and growing. What happens when none of this is necessary?” (Stuart Russell)
“It is our intelligence that gives us power over all living things.” (Stuart Russell) WE write the rules. WE shape the world of tomorrow; a world of equality, empathy, truth, and justice for all.
Audio sample courtesy of the South Australian Public Primary Schools Music Festival
We recommend performing the entire song cycle. The other pieces are
Away from the Screen https://www.pauljarman.com/composition/away-from-the-screen/
Keep the Truth Alive https://www.pauljarman.com/composition/keep-the-truth-alive/
Follow My Own Dream https://www.pauljarman.com/composition/follow-my-own-dream/
