A new reason to consider kindness?

I wanted to share a few thoughts with you on the importance of spreading kindness.

I genuinely believe that giving and receiving love and kindness is the true source of lasting happiness, peace, and joy. Everything that we have, want, work for and dream about, comes back to what will make us happy and happiness is born of love and kindness. 

 For me, this belief operates on both a practical, everyday level and a spiritual one. I view the core energy of the universe—God, Goddess, Cosmic Source—as something we are part of and if we want happiness, love and kindness are the best way to create the life, and maybe afterlife, that we want to be a part of. 

I read a news story yesterday that honestly shocked me. It was about one former executive in a company that has led the way on the development of A.I. believes that there is better than a 10% chance that A.I. will destroy humanity within a decade. The reason he thinks this is a possibility is that we are teaching A.I. to be cruel and heartless through the ways we interact with media and technology. My initial response to this was absolute skepticism. 

I neither love nor hate A.I. I do not want or need it to create content and I do not want it interfering with people's livelihoods or attempting to replicate art. Art is the sacred expression of human emotion so in my view, A.I. cannot create it- it can only steal  and bastardize what it cannot understand. On the other hand, A.I. can be incredibly beneficial in many areas of science and research, helping us make huge strides in areas that we might not ever understand, simply because of its ability to process and synthesize large streams of data. But how is it dangerous to humanity?

Then I thought about internet trolls. I thought about political divides that spew vitriol at both sides, and the judgement and cruelty some people seem to feel towards anyone that is too different from themselves. I can definitely see how this could impact A.I. and how that could in turn have a terrifying consequence for humanity. 

Perhaps this is too much science fiction. Perhaps it is alarmist or even a little ridiculous. But in my quest for happiness, I am going to start trying to do something kind every day on the internet, and I am asking anyone who reads this to do the same. If people are supportive, complementary and helpful on the internet, it will affect all of the algorithms, and that will affect what we are teaching A.I. This cannot possibly do any harm. I know it will help me feel better in the short term, and maybe it could actually help save the world.