Looking out of my window today, I could see it was a beautiful Spring day.
The view showed the sea to one side, and hills to the other.
The sea was sparkling and glistening in the sunshine, and I could spot one or two boats sailing in the distance.
Seagulls were swooping in big loops, no doubt hoping a fishing boat might come in to view which would signal rich pickings.
The hills were a patchwork of earthy colours. Brown, green and dark purple in light and shade with a hint of snow away in the distance.
The sky was blue, with a few wispy clouds drifting along like stray feathers.
If that wasn`t enough visual stimulation, there were trees and shrubs starting to show signs of wakening up after a long winter sleep, by producing new leaves and pretty blossom.
Birds were busy chattering to each other as they looked for suitable places to build their nests.
As I was enjoying this Spring scene, I realized that none of what I was looking at was made by humans.
Each Spring, over hundreds of years, the area has remained the same, but at the same time has rejuvenated and reinvented itself to accommodate changing climate, natural forces, the evolution of trees, plants and animals on land, sea and air, and of course the very significant effect of the intervention of humans.
Over the centuries, there have been many challenges for the universe, but somehow it always finds a balance and keeps going.
Man has been part of that balance, by fitting in and respecting the other elements which make up the universe and working alongside them.
That is, until now.
Just as the universe has been evolving, man has been doing the same.
Humans came from very basic hunter gatherer beginnings, to where we are today.
We have now reached a stage where we have over invented ourselves and are now in the process of creating a new species.
The new species is made up of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence, and it is about to take over large parts of the world.
Since the early hunter gatherer days, man has been curious to find alternative ways of doing things and to constantly improve on them.
This has taken us through the Stone, Bronze, Iron and Industrial ages and now we have reached the dizzy heights of the Technological age, which concentrates very much on ways to find alternatives to the human body carrying out tasks.
Robots, which not so long ago were part of science fiction, have now found a permanent place in society.
They have been part of industry for some time, by replacing humans on the factory floor.
As the years have gone on, their uses have increased and they are now widely used to take over a varied selection of physical tasks.
This has removed much human physical activity and reduced the work force.
There have been many forms of early robotic intervention such as simple automation.
We are so used to it now, but items in our homes such as automatic washing machines, dishwashers, household appliances, TV and internet devices have taken over what was previously done by hand.
Robotic inventions do not generally work in isolation. They are merely the vehicles which carry out the activity. They rely on the input of artificial intelligence, or A.I. to programme them and provide the "thinking" processes.
A.I. has rapidly made enormous strides and is finding uses in many forms of daily life.
Because it can "think", it`s potential is staggering.
This blog for example, could have been written for me if I keyed in a framework of content.
The result would have been a perfectly acceptable piece of work with correct spelling and grammar and including all relevant points.
I would not have needed to do anything other than authorize it, and the work would have been accepted as my own.
It is not difficult to see the potential uses, and of course abuses, that this could have.
It brings me back to my window observations.
If the sea could talk, what would it say?
No doubt it would say that it has become polluted by effluent from land and shipping, and has had to cope with acres of plastic and rubbish swirling around in it.
These contaminants have affected marine life by poisoning and killing fish and plants.
Over fishing has taken place which has resulted in reduction and extinction of some species.
In other words, humans have not been keeping to their side of the environmental bargain.
The same type of complaint would also have come from the other things I could see. The hills, the wildlife and the vegetation, all have suffered damage at the hands of humans who not only content in damaging the natural world, seem to be on a course for replacing their own species with an artificially invented one.
In our new world, it is probable that our day will commence by complete automation in the home, followed by automation at work, A.I. and robotics carrying out the majority of tasks.
Vehicles and trains may be driverless, with vessels and aircraft following on.
Education. health, policing, justice, hospitality, local authority, banking and finance will be increasingly driven by Robotics and A.I.and more practical industries such as agriculture , fishing, animal and land management etc. finding applications too.
I might add that Robotics and A.I. although being taken on board to help halt further destruction of the environment as part of wider initiatives, they are developing as a separate science.
If we are no longer using the physical body, what happens to it?
What happens to the mind? Obviously it will still require people to work on these systems and continue to invent and improve them, but there will be many who will have a great deal of time on their hands.
How should we be preparing for that?
Are we happier as we get rid of things we thought we didn`t want to do?
It will be interesting to see what the window view will be like in a hundred years time. Hopefully the outlook will be much the same, but where will the humans be?
