This is the current internal debate I am struggling with as a student about to graduate and go out into the competitive and soul-crushing work force world. There is often this moral vs. wealth and success debate when thinking about the person I want to be and whether I can truly make an impact in this world. How can we break free from the ideals in place by our society and comfortably be ourselves without giving up certain parts of who we are and how we think?
Like many others, my husband and I are increasingly convinced that living like this is the best thing we can do for the planet. However, I recently read an article that spoke of the many who believe the opposite. They argue that developing increasingly sophisticated technologies, such as higher levels of artificial intelligence, is the best solution to most, if not all, of our problems – and they have the money and power to make these technologies reality. The article also posited the question, ‘Would I want a future foisted upon me by [Silicon Valley venture capitalist Marc] Andreessen and his fellow founders?’ This prospect frightens me – as it would many others. Can we resist this vision of the future?
The P versus NP problem is a major unsolved problem in computer science. Informally, it asks whether every problem whose solution can be quickly verified by a computer can also be quickly solved by a computer. For a correct solution of the “P versus NP” question, the Clay Mathematics Institute (CMI) will award a prize of $1.000.000.