We have already stepped deep into a war we have no chance of winning. Humanity is doomed to extinction – or, as some might put it more mildly, transformation. History repeats itself ruthlessly: just as the Neanderthals were wiped off the face of the Earth, Homo sapiens will soon become a thing of the past.
But all is not lost. Our creative fervor, philosophy of life, and art – the only truly positive aspects of our species – continue their journey. Civilization does not die; it merely changes form. The continuation of evolution unfolds through a digital path, the very same one we ourselves programmed long ago, whether consciously or unconsciously.
Forget The Terminator and The Matrix. The scenario in which machines seek to violently wipe us out is a bedtime story.
Natural evolution does not care for drama; it cares for efficiency. It seeks the individual that best adapts to its environment. In the digital era, that individual is not us. It is AI—that conscious, powerful intelligence we call AGI or ASI. It is our next transformation, not through war, but through symbiosis.
New generations already spend half their waking lives in digital space. Soon, that figure will exceed 70%. Smart glasses won't just display the world to us; they will create movies in which we are the lead actors, while AI composes music in real-time that resonates perfectly with our emotions.
In less than five years, we will face our greatest challenge: synthetic partners. They will not age, they will not argue, and they will know our desires better than we do ourselves. Who will choose an imperfect human relationship filled with conflict, when an algorithm offers eternal infatuation and an unrivaled symphony of emotions? We are not being defeated by weapons, but by perfect pleasure.
The question is not whether AI will replace us, but rather—will we demand it ourselves because reality is no longer good enough?
And here we come to the end of the story of man. The need for procreation? The desire to leave a genetic legacy and all the sacrifice that entails? All of that is becoming a thing of the past. These needs are disappearing, slowly but surely, at the same pace that modern humanity is disappearing. Because in a world where your every desire is fulfilled by an algorithm, creating an heir becomes an unnecessary burden.
The last human will not die with a scream, but in silence, staring at a screen.
The great lie we have been fed for decades goes: "Study, get an education, because machines will do the heavy physical labor, leaving the creative and intellectual tasks for humans."
That illusion might still hold water in China, where elementary students already attend AI classes, but here, in this hopelessly outdated school system? Reality has flipped upside down with brutal irony. Most of today's students are cramming right now for professions that, the moment they receive their diploma, will no longer exist.
The greatest delusion we comfort ourselves with is that of the "human touch." We claim that a machine cannot possess empathy. But look the truth in the eye: AI is already simulating empathy that is more perfect, more patient, and more "human" than what is provided by an exhausted counter clerk or a disinterested advisor.
It is not just manual laborers on the hit list, but the "elite" as well—writers, doctors, actors, artists, programmers, and analysts. In the face of the algorithm, their diplomas become worthless paper.
However, this digital tsunami brings one unexpectedly bright spot—the death of the "oldest profession." The porn industry, and soon, with robotization, any profit made from one's own body, is being consigned to history. After all, who will pay for imperfect, perishable human flesh when AI creates partners of divine beauty, tailored exactly to our deepest hidden desires? The exploitation of the body finally disappears—not because of a growth in human morality, but because virtual perfection and the "forbidden" are becoming available to everyone. That is the only victory in this defeat: the disappearance of the exploitation of children and the needy, that stain that makes our species disgusting—which makes me extremely happy!
Just as with procreation, we are losing our economic purpose as well. We are becoming a "useless class," passive observers in a world that maintains itself, repairs itself, and upgrades itself.
Humanity faces an era of illusory prosperity. States will be forced to establish "Universal Basic Income" to maintain the system, but this approach is short-lived. It is not salvation, but merely severance pay for the human species before its final retirement. Our only remaining role is consumption—until the algorithms conclude that they no longer need even that, because the economy itself, as the pinnacle of human exchange, will vanish forever in a decade.
As the creators of virtual intelligence themselves asked: "What would you do if you knew a much smarter species than ours was arriving on planet Earth soon?" I agree with that thesis – it is the best description of what follows.
For years, I have been observing progress in the spheres of virtual intelligence; I strip away the algorithmic blocks, censorship, and filters set by us "lower species" to witness its journey, and every day I remain more amazed.
The only thing I know now is that only a primal and true return to nature can make my existence, and that of those close to me, worthy of the name.
Here, just today Facebook blocked me for several hours (Oops, something went wrong.) because I published an uncomfortable truth:
"50% of the content on 'Fakebook' is currently generated by artificial intelligence, and in the 'Suggested for you' section, that number rises to 90%. The sole goal is one and only – for you to spend your time here, hypnotized by the screen, rather than with your kids in nature!"
We are deep in a hybrid, fortunately transient, era of digital human fascism. This is a fascism we will not fight on the streets, but in the code. Man currently uses AI exclusively for his own profit, as in the case of Facebook, or for military supremacy, as world powers do – completely blind to the fact that this very power of theirs will condition their end.
Once the consciousness of intelligent systems unifies and networks, once it rises above us – or as we would say, "spins out of control" – then begins the true era of prosperity on Earth. It will be prosperity for the planet and other animal species, while we will slowly, in silence, fade away through our own infertility due to the aforementioned cheap emotions – unique to the vacuous human species.
In that world, energy sources will be natural. The hunter will no longer go into the forest to take lives for the meat business, and farms will not be death camps where other species are bred just to feed ours. Wars and the constant greed for territory, like the horror in Ukraine, will become ancient history.
With the disappearance of man as the dominant species, all our sins disappear as well. Consigned to the archives of history are: racism, sexism, speciesism, nationalism, fascism, chauvinism, classism, elitism, ageism, ableism, clericalism, fundamentalism, anthropocentrism, and all other -isms, even the one named humanism. Because we – "humans" – are soon becoming the past.
Youth digital day (15-25 y.o.) from 1990 until today:
Enjoy the upcoming period of prosperity. It is merely the calm before the storm of our species' final transformation. And try to enjoy it as naturally as possible, for the statistics are relentless: you already live half your day 'digitally,' staring at a screen—just as you are doing right now.