Robotics revolution raises questions about what it means to be human
Ezra Levant warns humanity will be faced with challenging questions about what it means to be human as artificial intelligence and robotics technology continues rapidly advancing.
Innovations in artificial intelligence over the last few years have seen the technology become rapidly embraced as users flock to large language models like ChatGPT or other programs tailored towards audio or video production.
Pair this rapidly developing technology with robotics, like the Tesla Optimus Bot being pushed by Elon Musk, and new challenging questions are emerging about what it means to be human.
On Monday night's episode of The Ezra Levant Show, Ezra waded into this philosophical discussion.
Smartphones and the internet are “wonderful” tools, began Ezra. “But for tens of thousands of years, humans were accustomed to a certain way of living and interacting, and now it's through our phones.”
This reliance on technology was worsened during the COVID-19 lockdowns, he said, with anti-social messaging becoming pervasive in the public conversation.
“You weren't allowed to meet other people in real life. You were told to be afraid of strangers and afraid of your neighbours and even afraid of your family,” he said. “You were banned from going to church, banned even from going to work. Banned even from going to parks.”
Foundational relationships like dating and marriage have been impacted, Ezra said. Now, the new dual threat of AI and robotics poses the biggest challenge to humanity as we know it.
“What if AI can give in to your base instincts that no human would? What if AI would accept your worst sides that no human would and no human should?” he continued, highlighting comedians demonstrating some extreme theoretical examples of the problem.”
Is it “wrong” for someone to treat a computer like a slave, wondered Ezra in reaction to one of the videos. “I don't know, but I think if he were to live that way, day after day, he would be corroding himself because he would be learning, he would be training himself that you could be abusive like that to a humanoid and it would be fine.”
Heading down this path will lead to “less human contact than we've ever had,” Ezra said. Fast, responsive AI — that can audibly respond in any voice — combined with “ubiquitous pornography” and or for military purposes will raise more questions surrounding humanoid robots.
“I can imagine a time very soon in the future where there are replacement people in the form of humanoid robots,” Ezra said, speculating “that a generation of young men, and probably young women too,” will find these robots “superior” compared to “real human company” or is “at least easier to get, a lot easier to talk to,” and “a lot easier to command to do things that you now have to woo and convince a real human to do.”
Expanding on the isolation and mental illnesses stemming from smartphones, “don't you think that's going to speed up, by far, with robots?” warned Ezra.
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COMMENTS
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Bernhard Jatzeck commented 2025-12-09 21:01:53 -0500Artificial intelligence? I think we had that for the last few years with the Liberal cabinet and, alas, we still do.
On the other hand, we might have to be careful about robots. We might end up like Harry Mudd at the end of a certain “Star Trek” episode.
