Human beings in a civilization of cognitive technologies

Gribkov Andrei Armovich ORCID: 0000-0002-9734-105X Doctor of Technical Science Senior Researcher, Scientific and Production Complex "Technological Center" 124498, Russia, Moscow, Zelenograd, Shokin Square, 1, building 7 andarmo@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

Introduction. The development of information technology, which promises the ubiquity of artificial intelligence and other cognitive systems in the foreseeable future, inevitably affects the place and role of man in the emerging civilization.

Understanding these places and roles, identifying possible threats to humanity in a new civilizational context, and identifying ways and means to counter these threats are tasks that require answering several fundamental questions:

– What is civilization?  How does the concept of "civilization" relate to other basic concepts: culture, society, etc.? What is the purpose of civilization (and does it exist at all)? What characterizes civilization?

– What will be the civilization that is currently being formed, the distinctive feature of which is the reliance on cognitive technologies? What are cognitive technologies? What are the limitations of this development?

– What are the functions of man (people) in the existence and development of civilization? Are these functions changing? Are there any inalienable ones among them?

The answers to the last group of questions will allow us to formulate additional questions that are important for overcoming threats to humanity associated with changing the place and role of man in civilization, including the displacement of man from the sphere of intellectual activity.

Stages of civilization development. What is civilization and what is its purpose? The question of what civilization is, oddly enough, has not yet had a definite answer. There are many possible answers ^{[1, pp. 437-438]}, but none of them, according to the author, is accurate and complete. Sometimes civilization is defined as a set of material and spiritual achievements of society ^[2], which identifies civilization with culture.

The following definition of the concept of "civilization" is proposed: civilization is a form of group existence of people, providing through social mechanisms satisfaction of their biological, social and intellectual (spiritual) needs. The form of group existence of people is determined by culture – a set of methods of creation and previously created (accumulated) material and spiritual values (goods).

Based on this definition, the goal of civilization becomes obvious, which is to meet the needs of people. At the same time, due to the inequality of people in different historical periods, priorities in meeting the needs of different classes, peoples and countries differed significantly. The definition of culture formulated above does not imply any purpose for it. It is the environment for the formation of civilization and the product of its functioning.

The relationship between the concepts of "civilization" and "society" is of interest. One of the interpretations of the concept of "civilization", which one cannot disagree with, is its definition as a society localized in time and space ^[3]. In other words, civilization represents the realization of society in a specific cultural environment, tied to an era and a country.

A retrospective look at the development of human civilization reveals that civilization has gone through several stages so far. Three stages of civilization development are most often distinguished ^[4]: agrarian (pre-industrial) civilization, industrial civilization and post-industrial civilization ^[5]. Sometimes they talk about the five stages: primitive community, agrarian civilization, industrial civilization, industrial information civilization, information civilization.

According to the author, it is incorrect to talk about a primitive community as a civilization, since civilization (from Latin civilis – civil, state) refers to a society that has reached the level of formation of the state. The division of the further (civilized) development of mankind, according to the author, includes the stage of agrarian civilization and the stage of machine civilization. The modern stage of civilization development corresponds to the transition from a machine civilization to the next stage of development – the civilization of cognitive technologies, which this article is devoted to.

The division of the development of civilization into stages should, in the author's opinion, be based on a change in the means of achieving the goal of civilization, i.e. meeting the needs of people, in the context of the growth of these needs and the expansion of technological capabilities to meet them.

An agrarian civilization is a form of society, especially a traditional one, based more on agricultural and handicraft production than on industrial production ^[4]. The formation of an agrarian civilization took place in the context of the growth of the human population and the need to satisfy them with food, clothing and other basic material goods. The result of achieving the goal of meeting the needs of people at this stage was the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture, cattle breeding and animal husbandry.

Machine civilization is the conventional name of a period in the history of mankind based on machine production ^[4]. The further growth of the human population, accompanied by the emergence of new needs, including those related to agricultural and related industries (food production, clothing, etc.), an increase in artisanal production and mining, the emergence of new technologies initiated by the development of needs, made it necessary to form and develop machine production. The main task of machine production was to replace people with machines in performing heavy physical and monotonous work. To date, in solving this problem, the machine civilization has reached the level of automated and robotic production.

The separation of industrial information and information civilization within the framework of the proposed logic of the development of civilization, the purpose of which is to meet the needs of people, is impractical, however, nevertheless, has good reasons. The development of information technologies is a determining factor in the preparation of a machine civilization for the next stage of civilization development – the civilization of cognitive technologies (as we called it).

Some features of the cognitive technology civilization can be found in the post-industrial civilization. At the same time, the contours of the post-industrial civilization (society) are not fully defined. The properties characteristic of post-industrial civilization relate mainly to the sphere of economics and the organization of society: "In the post-industrial economy, information and knowledge become a productive resource... The main signs of the formation and development of the post-industrial economy include: the transition from the predominant production of goods to the production of services; the dominance of the class of technical specialists as the main professional group; increasing the importance and role of science and its achievements in the economy ..." ^[6]. Meanwhile, the needs and the results of their satisfaction through the available (at this level of development) technologies are decisive for civilization.

Table 1 summarizes the development of civilization from the stage of agrarian civilization to the stage of civilization of cognitive technologies, indicating the basic needs and the results of their satisfaction.

Table 1. Stages of civilization development

The civilization of cognitive technologies. What is the civilization of cognitive technologies? This is a civilization in which a person is replaced by machines not only to perform heavy and monotonous physical work, which is typical for a machine civilization throughout the entire period of its existence, or to solve computational and logical tasks according to a given (man-made) program (which in a particular case may assume adaptability and autonomy of work), which is typical for a machine civilization. civilizations from the mid-1940s to the present, but also for solving intellectual (creative) tasks, i.e. tasks for which there is no ready-made (preset) the method of solution ^[7].

Artificial cognitive systems are a means of replacing a person in solving intellectual tasks – multilevel systems that perform the functions of recognizing and remembering information, making decisions, storing, explaining, understanding and producing new knowledge ^[8]. The main field of application of artificial cognitive systems is the intelligent control of machines (technical means that perform useful work). Intelligent management should be understood as management, in the process of which intellectual tasks are solved.

What are cognitive technologies? Like any other technology, they are a set of methods and tools (tools) for obtaining a certain product. For cognitive technologies, such a product is control systems of various levels of complexity, capable (to a greater or lesser extent) of solving intellectual tasks. To do this, control systems can be supplemented with fuzzy logic algorithms, machine learning and implemented on the basis of artificial neural networks (hardware or software).

The civilization of cognitive technologies corresponds to the 6th technological order, the core of which is the convergence of the NBIC complex: nanotechnology, biotechnology, information and cognitive technologies. NBIC technologies are currently considered as the basis of social progress. Special social development programs based on NBIC technologies have been developed in the USA and the European Union ^[9].

The impact of NBIC technologies on society, which finds its expression in the transition of civilization to a new stage of development, is realized mainly through the development of cognitive technologies. Other components of the NBIC-complex convergence are responsible for the synergistic effect, which, among other things, makes the development of cognitive technologies more active and provides wider opportunities for their practical implementation. In particular, the development of nanotechnology greatly expands the capabilities of microelectronics (which is the basis for the implementation of artificial cognitive systems). Information and cognitive technologies in the implementation of artificial cognitive systems are interconnected so tightly that their separate consideration is not possible. Moreover, artificial cognitive systems are a means of realizing consciousness (artificial), which can be interpreted as an information environment and, accordingly, is based on the use of information technologies ^[10].

The consistent displacement of a person from economic activity (first from the sphere of non–intellectual, and then intellectual) looks like a serious threat to humanity. In this regard, two key questions arise, the answer to which depends on the presence and degree of this threat: "Are there limitations in the development of cognitive systems?" and "Does a person have inalienable functions in civilization?".

The first of these issues was investigated by the author and co-author in ^[11]. The result of this study is the statement that the mechanisms of solving intellectual problems by humans can be determined and implemented through artificial cognitive systems (artificial intelligence). At the same time, artificial intelligence does not need to be endowed with subjectivity, emotions and needs – it can perform its function of solving intellectual tasks without this.

Is the task of endowing artificial cognitive systems with subjectivity feasible? It is probably feasible, but it is not necessary to solve intellectual problems. At the same time, an artificial cognitive system endowed with subjectivity will pose a real threat to humanity, inevitable with the domination of a weak (human) over a supposedly stronger one in terms of physical, computational and intellectual capabilities (artificial cognitive system).

Thus, the question "Are there limitations in the development of cognitive systems?" can be answered that such limitations exist and they are related to the fact that artificial cognitive systems should not (there is no practical need for this) become like a person: possess emotions, needs and subjectivity.

From the answer to the first question, the answer to the second follows: "Does man have inalienable functions in civilization?". Such an inalienable function is the generation of needs: biological, social and intellectual (spiritual). Performing this function is not as simple and natural as it might seem at first glance. The consistent replacement of man by machines in various fields of activity, including in solving intellectual tasks (creativity), can lead to simplification, degradation of needs, and gradually reduce them to biological ones. Therefore, for the civilization of cognitive technologies, one of the key tasks is to counteract the degradation of needs, and preferably to stimulate their development.

The complex of human functions within the framework of civilization is defined relatively simply and unambiguously. The goal of civilization is to meet the needs of people, the means to achieve this goal is human labor – physical (manual or using increasingly complex machines) and mental (first with the help of exclusively human reason, then with the help of auxiliary tools in the form of mechanical, electrical and electronic computers, and finally with the help of artificial cognitive systems). Consequently, human functions within the framework of civilization are the generation of needs and labor (to the extent and in the form in which it is necessary) to meet them.

The development of civilization is accompanied by a steady decline in human labor activity. This trend is likely to continue and even accelerate in the cognitive technology civilization. The generation of needs for the continuation of the entire history of mankind has steadily increased both quantitatively and qualitatively: as technological and social development progressed, new needs were born, and the former ones mostly remained relevant. In the civilization of cognitive technologies, the basis for preserving the importance of a person as an initiator of development is the development of needs. In the context of their active expansion and deepening, there will also be a need for work related to formalization, detailing and formulation of needs. The importance and complexity of such activities should not be underestimated. In relation to the intellectual sphere, this activity corresponds to the formulation of the task (question). Meanwhile, it is known that in order to "ask a question correctly, you need to know most of the answer" ^{[12, p. 286]}.

The evolution of needs is the basis for the development of civilization. According to the law of the elevation of needs, "in the course of the development of social production, there is an increase and modification of needs, the disappearance of some and the emergence of new ones, as a result of which the range of needs expands, their structure changes qualitatively" ^[13].

The directions and scales of transformation of needs are determined by the expansion of technological capabilities. One of the main characteristic features of consumption associated with the 4th ^[14] and the approaching 5th ^[15] industrial revolutions is the personalization of consumption. The development of information technologies and digitalization of production have made it possible to expand the use of technological equipment, for which the cost of production depends to a small extent on serialization (equipment of additive technologies and other equipment with a small number of conversions, or equipment for single production from unified components). As a result, a service-oriented architecture of production becomes possible, the products of which meet the needs of specific customers. Along with the expansion of the species diversity of consumed products, social development is accompanied by a change in the structure of consumption, in particular, an increase in the share of services compared to goods.

The classification of needs according to the level of complexity implies their division into biological (physiological, natural), social and intellectual (spiritual) needs. The development of civilization contributes to the growth of all needs, but this growth is not the same. Biological needs (for breathing, sleep, warmth, food, water, health, rest, etc.) basically do not change. Some increase in biological needs is associated with the need to ensure the quality of consumption – purity of air and water, taste and safety of food, hygiene and hypoallergenic clothing, etc. To a large extent, the requirements for the quality of consumption are due to the development of technologies, which, on the one hand, open up opportunities to improve quality, and, on the other hand, are the reason for its decrease as a result of negative effects on nature (pollution of harmful substances in air, water, food, etc.) and the expansion of the use of technologies (the use of synthetic fertilizers, genetic modification of cultivated plants, vaccination and mass use of antibiotics in animal husbandry, etc.).

Social needs grow with the development of civilization much more actively than biological ones. Moreover, a significant part of the consumption of material goods (clothing, housing, food, drink, etc.) is largely due to the influence of the social environment. What a person is dressed in, what he eats and in which house he lives depends not only (and not so much) on the need to meet his biological needs, but on the ideas accepted in society about the proper volume, structure and quality of consumption. The development of civilization creates conditions for the formation of new socially determined needs that can be met with an increasing level of economy and new technical capabilities. As a result, there is a need to change clothes and other consumer goods according to fashion trends, the need for all new gadgets, household appliances and other products with obviously excessive functionality, etc. In general, this trend can be characterized as the substitution of needs for market demand, which, to an even greater extent than needs, can be controlled through social mechanisms, in particular, marketing tools.

Social mechanisms of compulsion to consume can play both a positive and a negative role. For example, they are the main incentive for economic development. At the same time, it is difficult to judge how much economic growth, poorly related to meeting real needs, is a positive phenomenon. However, the growth of production volumes and the development of technologies are taking place, and the main role in this was played by social mechanisms of coercion to consumption: often excessive and not corresponding to the real needs of people.

The further evolution of needs, accompanied by their expansion and modification, is necessary to preserve the position of man in a developing civilization. The main means of ensuring this evolution of needs, without any doubt, can only be social mechanisms of coercion to consumption. To want something, to look for new consumer goods (including those corresponding to material consumption or related to intellectual activity) and their properties, to form a complex interconnected system from an expanding variety of consumer goods – all this a person will do only under social pressure in order to comply with his social environment, the norms of consumption accepted in it. Recall that civilization is a society localized in time and space. Therefore, there are no other means of influencing people other than social ones.

The social mechanisms of coercion are not limited to forcing people to consume. These mechanisms also play an important role in forcing people to work. A clear example of the effectiveness of such coercion is the place in the economy, politics and culture of people who do not have a material need to earn money, for example, the aristocracy in past centuries. Chivalry was formed from the aristocracy, government activities, art and science were mainly carried out by representatives of the nobility. In most cases, having no material need for work, they chose the path of labor activity under the influence of the social environment, which requires activity from all members of society in exchange for social recognition. Avoiding such activity was acceptable, but entailed the social isolation of the individual and a reduction in the potential for his further social growth.

The intellectual (spiritual) needs of a person, unlike social ones, are localized on the person himself. The needs for new knowledge, intellectual activity, intellectual and spiritual improvement are personal, realized by the person himself under the influence of internal stimuli. It is important to note that the predominant part of the needs that we qualify as intellectual (spiritual) are not such. These pseudo-intellectual needs are produced under social pressure: in order to achieve a high social status, it is necessary to acquire knowledge, develop one's mind, raise the level of one's culture, etc. In the early stages of human development, biological needs also acted as a significant incentive for intellectual development: to survive in wildness or in a primitive community, intelligence, memory, and a certain spirituality were required, manifested in the form of commitment to the interests of a group or community, often to the detriment of individual ones.

Intellectual activity is extremely energy-consuming, so it is common for a person to perform it within a short time interval, usually several minutes, sufficient to quickly solve an urgent life task. The maximum duration of concentration of a person who has not undergone special training is 20-25 minutes. Even with such short intervals of high activity, the brain accounts on average for up to 20% of the resting metabolic rate (RMR), the total amount of energy consumed by the human body ^[16]. At the same time, the potential for an increase in energy costs for intellectual activity is significantly limited. An experiment conducted by scientists from the P.K. Anokhin Research Institute of Normal Physiology showed that students' energy costs during exams (related to intellectual activity and stress) increased by no more than 30-40% of the usual level ^[17].

For the vast majority of people, active intellectual activity is extremely tedious, unpleasant and requires significant efforts of will. If this were possible (there would be no social compulsion), most people would choose to engage in less intellectual activity than what they currently have. The choice in favor of greater intellectual activity is preferable for a clear minority of people – they probably have some internal motivation mechanisms (for example, emotional stimulation in the form of joy from the positive solution of intellectual tasks).

The predisposition of the majority of people to a decrease in intellectual activity is the main risk factor for a person to lose his role as an initiator of the development of civilization. The means of leveling this risk within the framework of civilization is social coercion (or, in a less harsh form, social motivation). Specific mechanisms of social coercion (motivation) can be reliably determined only in the context of the actualization of all components of the civilization of cognitive technologies. Currently, it can only be stated that the effectiveness of these mechanisms directly depends on the degree of integration of society, i.e. the preservation and expansion of social ties. The separation of people, along with the immediate social consequences, would also have its inevitable consequence the loss of the effectiveness of social mechanisms of coercion to consumption, including the satisfaction of pseudo-intellectual needs that stimulate the development of civilization and ensure that man retains his place and role in it.

The existence of a society under conditions of effective social coercion to intellectual activity is likely to contribute to the preservation or even expansion of a minority with real intellectual needs. The importance of this minority for the development of society is probably significant, but so far it has not been reliably determined. To a large extent, this issue correlates with the problem of the role of personality in history ^[18].

Conclusions. Based on the analysis carried out in the article, the following main conclusions can be drawn:

1. The author's definition of the concept of "civilization" is proposed: civilization is a form of group existence of people, providing through social mechanisms satisfaction of their biological, social and intellectual (spiritual) needs. It follows from this definition that the purpose of civilization is to meet the needs of people.

2. One of the interpretations of the concept of "civilization", which deepens the understanding of its content, is the definition of civilization as a society localized in time and space.

3. Civilization has passed through two stages in its development: the stage of agrarian civilization and the stage of machine civilization. Currently, civilization is in a state of transition to a new stage – the civilization of cognitive technologies.

4. The defining properties for civilization are the basic needs to be satisfied and the results of their satisfaction.

5. For the civilization of cognitive technologies, the main need being satisfied is artificial cognitive systems for the intelligent control of machines for the production of material goods, and the result of satisfying this need is the replacement of people with artificial cognitive systems in the intelligent control of machines.

6. In the context of the emerging threat of the gradual displacement of man by machines from economic activity, two key questions arise: "Are there limitations in the development of cognitive systems?" and "Does man have inalienable functions in civilization?". The answer to the first question is: yes, there are limitations, and they are related to the fact that artificial cognitive systems should not become like a person: they should have emotions, needs and subjectivity. From the answer to the first question, the answer to the second follows: the inalienable function of man is the generation of needs: biological, social and intellectual (spiritual). In general, human functions within the framework of civilization are the generation of needs and labor (to the extent and in the form in which it is necessary) to meet them.

7. The basis of the development of civilization is the evolution of needs: biological, social and intellectual (spiritual). The practical realization of the influence of needs on the development of civilization is carried out mainly through mechanisms of social coercion (or social motivation). A significant part of material consumption within the framework of civilization is initiated through social mechanisms of coercion to consumption. Intellectual needs determine a small part of intellectual activity – its main incentive is social coercion.

8. The further development of civilization will allow preserving the position of man as the initiator of this development only in the case of successful implementation of mechanisms of social coercion, primarily coercion to intellectual activity. The condition for the realizability of social mechanisms of coercion is social integration, active counteraction to the trends of separation of people, a decrease in activity and the number of social connections.