Childhood's End

"The cat sat on the ___"

The likelihood of the next word being "mat" is higher than it being "the" in the sentence above.

Current AI is a probability engine. For now at least, the "I" in "AI" is somewhat of a misnomer. If AI did ever become sentient - or if humans merged with it, would the resultant being ever lament for the loss of the passionate creatures that it replaced? AI promises to shortcut much of our intellectual travail, but hard work is an key aspect of the human condition. Perhaps our desire to avoid hard work is rooted in the knowledge of our own mortality, and the limited amount of time that we have. But will removing hard work, really improve the human experience in the way we think it will? In the future, will the world become an AI instigated ocean of mediocrity and sameness? Will the AI/human hybrids - or perhaps the AI androids themselves crave something that only the struggle of the human condition could truly provide?