Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of the most powerful tools ever created by humanity. Born from the minds of brilliant scientists like John McCarthy, who coined the term at the Dartmouth Conference in 1956, AI was originally conceived as a way to simulate human intelligence. Over the decades, it has evolved from a dream of mechanical minds into the reality of machines that can recognize faces, write poetry, and even make life-or-death decisions. It has entered nearly every sphere of modern life—healthcare, finance, military defense, education, and increasingly, the natural world.

But with great power comes great peril. Today, public opinion on AI is deeply divided. For every celebration of AI’s capabilities, there is an equally loud alarm bell. Critics warn of job displacement, surveillance capitalism, disinformation at scale, and the terrifying potential for autonomous weapons. We have created a genie so powerful that we’re no longer sure we can control it. As the philosopher Hans Jonas cautioned, “Positive choices require supreme wisdom,” and it is unclear whether we, as a society, possess the ethical maturity to wield such a force responsibly.

Jonas understood something profound: the very nature of human action has changed with the advent of technology. In his book The Imperative of Responsibility, he wrote, “If the realm of making has invaded the space of essential action, then morality must invade the realm of making from which it has formerly stayed aloof........

© Mathrubhumi English