The Need and Feasibility of the UN to Lead the Human Community in Creating a Digital Planet(017)
— An Open Letter to UN Secretary-General Guterres and Global Sages
5.2.3 Division of labor between the Metaverse and the Realverse
In the previous section “The Essence of the Metaverse,” we discussed how there is a clear division of labor between the Metaverse and the Realverse. This division of labor is not something that we have imagined or fabricated, but rather it is a natural result of social and historical development. Furthermore, this inevitability and trend are already clearly evident today. It can even be said that whether it is the United Nations’ self-rescue, human self-rescue, or Earth self-rescue, they can only be ultimately achieved on the basis of the human-machine division of labor.
The first issue that the human-machine division of labor needs to solve is the problem of humanity. What will humans do in the future, which direction will they develop in, and what is their ultimate goal and destination? The second issue is the problem of the universe. How can the entire ecosystem of the Realverse, including Earth, the Solar System, and the Milky Way, operate healthily and sustainably?
Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari expressed concern in his book “Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow,” saying, “What will happen once we have algorithms that can do almost everything better than us, even with the best intentions?” And he proposed the concept of the “useless class,” believing that in the future, as artificial intelligence continues to develop, a large number of humans will become a useless group.
With the public release of ChatGPT in November 2022 and the release of ChatGPT 4.0 in March 2023, Harari’s concern is becoming a reality.
At this stage, what people can’t understand the most is that humans have gone to the Metaverse and the digital Earth, and who will produce their food, clothing, housing, and transportation needs on the material Earth. And why did humans go to the digital Earth? Are they just playing Metaverse games and watching multi-dimensional movies and TV shows every day? People’s anxiety lies in the fact that on the material Earth, they may have become the “useless class.” Who will ensure their material needs for physical survival in the digital Earth?
With the human-machine division of labor, the vast majority of Earth’s population will not only not become the “useless class,” nor will they have to worry about their material needs for physical survival. Instead, everyone has the opportunity to ascend from “Homo sapiens” to “Homo Wisdom.” Harari saw the future of the human-machine symbiotic era, but he did not see the most significant feature of the human-machine symbiotic era, which is the human-machine division of labor. Human-machine symbiosis does not only refer to the human-machine symbiotic pattern of developing brain-machine interfaces and implanting chips in humans. It primarily refers to the harmonious symbiosis of humans and machines under the premise of human-machine division of labor, with each taking advantage of its strengths, performing its duties, and coexisting beautifully and harmoniously. This symbiosis is not coexisting within the same organism but coexisting in the civilization’s large ecosystem constructed on different universes and planets.
In the metaverse, humans will be mainly responsible for developing and utilizing human spiritual resources to meet the growing spiritual needs of human society.
Machines, on the other hand, will be mainly responsible for developing and utilizing the material resources of Earth (or other planets) to meet the growing material needs of human society in the physical universe.
This is the basic tone of the division of labor between humans and machines. It is an unprecedented progress in human civilization history and its significance is reflected in at least three aspects.
5.2.3.1 Ensuring Human Nature’s Return and Wisdom Upgrade
The future direction of human development is to engage in the development of spiritual resources and the production of spiritual commodities. Meanwhile, machines will be responsible for the harmonious development and utilization of human living needs, including Earth, the solar system, the Milky Way, and the entire physical universe. Of course, the machines referred to here are those with super artificial intelligence. When material needs are fully met, human beings will no longer be bound by them, and human nature can be completely liberated to focus on the development of spiritual resources and the production of spiritual commodities.
However, human spiritual needs are endless. As human society continues to demand new and high-quality spiritual commodities, producers of spiritual commodities will be compelled by the market to continuously improve their cultural literacy and spiritual realm and to reach the goal of wisdom upgrade or enlightenment. This is the basic logic of the “Homo Sapiens” ascending to “Homo Wisdom”.
This market-driven mechanism in the metaverse is effective for everyone. Unless you do not want to make money or do not want to gain a sense of social achievement in the metaverse, you must innovate and create more new spiritual commodities to meet societal needs. The premise for your spiritual commodities to meet social needs is to generate a consensus among people, making them willing to share and collaborate. This forces you to continuously improve your spiritual realm and level of wisdom.
Such a division of labor and direction ensures the return of human nature and the unity of body and mind, making it impossible for human nature to be alienated or enslaved. Undoubtedly, it is the most ideal choice for the development of human civilization, developing countries, and the Earth.
5.2.3.2 Ensure Basic Equality of Human Society
The basic equality of human society referred to here means that every citizen on this planet should have fair access to basic necessities such as food, clothing, shelter, and other basic guarantees. There should no longer be a situation where some people can live extravagantly while others cannot even afford to feed themselves or clothe themselves properly. This is a social pathology and not something that should be seen in a civilized society. However, in an era where material resources and goods were extremely scarce, this idea was just a fantasy and impossible to achieve. Today, human society’s material wealth has greatly increased, and there is no problem in providing every global citizen with basic necessities. The problem lies in how to guarantee and distribute them. Marx also envisaged that in a communist society, humans should be distributed according to their needs. However, how to measure this “need” and who should measure it? If I say that I have a large appetite and need to eat more food or that I am sensitive to the cold and need to wear more clothes, obviously, this is not a practical solution.
However, with the advent of super artificial intelligence, big data, algorithmic guarantees, and algorithmic trust, human needs can be determined by machines. For example, while leading human society into the metaverse and building a digital Earth, the United Nations is also working to create a “Super AI Global Integration and Protection Centre (SAGIPC)” on the material Earth. Every SAGIPC citizen’s physical data, fitness data, health data, life data, and consumption data are recorded and stored by it all the time. Then, based on the resources for basic necessities that SAGIPC can provide at this stage, 95% of this portion is allocated reasonably to every SAGIPC citizen. This basic guarantee is free and entirely free of charge. The remaining 5% can be commodified, and whoever bids high can buy it. The profit obtained is used for the reproduction of SAGIPC.
Perhaps the distribution of this SAGIPC is still not absolutely equal and reasonable. However, it is already the most reasonable solution among all the options we can imagine. As artificial intelligence continues to advance, big data continues to improve, and material resources continue to become more abundant, its equality and reasonableness will undoubtedly become better and better.
At this stage, we need to not only curb global carbon emissions but also ensure the basic survival and development rights of people in developing countries and regions. Currently, neither the United Nations nor any other organization has found any genuinely feasible solution. However, once the human-machine division of labor is implemented in these countries, this thorny problem will be solved easily. In my open letter to David Beasley, head of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, on January 8, 2022, some descriptions of this idea were already mentioned. More specific implementation plans will be discussed later, but they will not be elaborated here.
Moreover, after the human-machine division of labor model becomes more mature, global regional conflicts such as the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Taiwan Strait crisis, the Afghanistan problem, and the Iran issue can all be solved with a package deal. Because the essence behind all global regional conflicts is nothing more than issues of interest, security, and faith. Under the human-machine division of labor scenario, these problems can all have fundamental solutions.
5.2.3.3 Ensure the sustainable operation of the Earth
The material Earth, at least in a visible future, is the only home where the vast majority of human beings rely on for survival and growth. Ensuring the healthy and sustainable development of the Earth is almost impossible for humanity itself due to various historical and practical reasons. However, if the task of governing and maintaining the Earth is entrusted to SAGIPC, it will be a whole new world.
Protecting the ecology of our Earth is an extremely complex problem. In addition to the severe climate problem of global warming, there are a series of other challenges, including but not limited to:
Loss of biodiversity: human activities such as deforestation, habitat destruction, and overfishing have led to a significant reduction in the number of plant and animal species, and many species are now facing the threat of extinction.
Land degradation: human activities such as industrial agriculture, mining, and urbanization have led to soil, water, and vegetation degradation, as well as soil erosion. Land degradation may also lead to increased greenhouse gas emissions and exacerbate climate change.
Environmental pollution: the use of petrochemical fuels, industrial processes, waste disposal, plastic pollution, and e-waste, etc., these pollutants released into the environment can affect the quality of air, water, and soil.
Resource depletion: the growth of population and consumption levels have led to the depletion of natural resources such as freshwater, forests, and minerals, which is unsustainable in the long run.
Despite the establishment of the United Nations for several decades, none of these situations have fundamentally improved, and many aspects have even worsened. Conflicts of interest and human weaknesses make human efforts limited. However, if humans submit their demands to SAGIPC and let it take responsibility for governing and maintaining the Earth based on the actual situation at that time, it is entirely possible to put an end to excessive deforestation and overfishing, control land degradation and soil erosion, strictly control pollutant emissions, and protect natural resources from depletion. At that time, regardless of who you are, whether it is a country, government, institution or individual, in terms of protecting and managing the material Earth, you must unconditionally obey SAGIPC’s management. Because only it can stand on a neutral position, without any personal interests, unable to bribe or cheat, and handle all these things in the most fair and just way. No other central institution controlled by humans can achieve this.
People may think that there is no problem with this idea. However, it is impossible to truly implement such a SAGIPC on the material Earth. No country or government can hand over its national sovereignty to a machine center for management. A super artificial intelligence center, if it is just a reference system for global governance, may still have possibilities. We believe that building a centralized management system for the global material world is definitely difficult and time-consuming. But fundamentally, this is the only feasible solution to ensure the healthy operation of our material Earth and even the entire Realverse. As long as we take a step-by-step approach and do a good job in the early stage, achieving the goal of SAGIPC is only a matter of time.
The core breakthrough point here is witnessing. When the countries and regions participating in this SAGIPC, whether in the utilization, development, and protection of material resources, or in the quality, safety, and fairness of material goods, the level of artificial intelligence is significantly higher than that of humans. Even if the government of this country is unwilling, would the people also be unwilling? The people will naturally stand up and demand a referendum to decide whether to join SAGIPC system. Therefore, as long as we believe that in the governance of the material world and the utilization of material resources, future artificial intelligence will definitely far surpass humans. So, there is no reason to worry that this SAGIPC will eventually become the governor and manager of the material earth.
If this is really the case, then this man-machine division of labor, this SAGIPC, will solve all the difficult problems of human society that we are currently concerned about. Yes, for the material earth, as long as there is money, the SAGIPC can solve almost anything. But where does the money come from? Where does the new wealth of human society come from? What kind of new wealth system needs to be established to ensure that human society has inexhaustible money? This is the most tricky and fundamental part of all problems. To solve this, we also need to start from the value recognition of the Metaverse and the digital earth.
(to be continued)
The English translation is mainly done by AI and is inevitably not accurate enough. Please refer to the original Chinese text below for a more accurate understanding.
5.2.3 元宇宙与实宇宙的人机大分工
在前面“元宇宙的实质”中，我们谈到了，元宇宙与实宇宙是有明确分工的。这个大分工，并不是我们想象或杜撰出来的，而是社会发展、历史发展的必然产物。并且，这种必然性和趋势，今天就已经很清晰地呈现了出来。甚至可以说，无论是联合国自救、人类自救，以及地球自救，都只能在人机大分工的基础上才能最终实现。
人机大分工要解决的第一个问题，就是人类问题。未来人类将要干什么，将往哪个方向发展，最终目标、归宿是什么。第二个问题，就是宇宙问题。包括我们地球、太阳系、银河系在内的整个实宇宙生态，如何健康可持续运转？
以色列历史学家尤瓦尔·赫拉利，在《未来简史》一书中担忧：“一旦用有高度智能而且本身没有意识的算法接受几乎一切工作，而且能比有意识的人类做的更好时，人类还能做什么”。并由此提出了“无用阶级”这个概念，认为未来社会随着人工智能的不断发展，大量人类将成为无用一族。
随着2022年11月，Chatgpt的公开发布，以及2023年3月，Chatgpt4.0的发布。使得赫拉利的这个担忧正在变为现实。
现阶段人们最不能理解的就是，人类都去到元宇宙中、去到数字地球中了，人类的衣食住行谁来生产。而且，人类到数字地球中去干嘛？难道天天玩元宇宙游戏、看多维电影和电视？人们的焦虑在于，在物质地球上，我可能成为了“无用阶层”。进入数字地球，我肉身生存的物质需求谁来保障。
有了人机大分工，绝大多数的地球人类。不仅不会成为“无用阶层”，不仅不用担心肉身生存的物质需求保障。反而，每个人都有机会从“智人”升华为“慧人”。赫拉利看到了未来的人机共生时代，可是，并没有看到人机共生时代有一个最显著的特征，就是人机分工。人机共生，并不单指在人体中开发脑机接口、植入芯片这类人机共生模式。更主要是指在人机分工前提下，人类和机器，各取所长、各司其责、各美其美、美美与共的和谐共生。不是共生在同一个生物体中，而是共生在不同宇宙、不同星球构建的文明大生态中。
人类在元宇宙中，将主要负责开发和利用人类的精神资源，满足人类社会不断增长的精神需求。
机器在实宇宙中，将主要负责开发和利用地球（或其它星球）的物质资源，满足人类社会不断增长的物质需求。
这就是人机大分工的基本定调。它是人类文明史无前例的一个巨大进步，其意义至少体现在三方面。
5.2.3.1 确保人性回归及智慧升级
人类未来的发展方向，是从事精神资源开发和精神商品生产。而人类的衣食住行，包括地球、太阳系、银河系以及整个实宇宙的和谐开发和利用，都由机器负责。当然，我们这里所指的机器是指具备超级人工智能的机器。人类未来的物质生活，完全可以做到按需分配。这时候，人类不再被物质需求所束缚，人性才能被彻底解放出来，专心于精神资源开发和精神商品生产。
而人类的精神需求也是无止境的。当人类社会对精神商品不断提出新需求、不断提出高要求时。精神商品的生产者就会被市场倒逼着，需要不断提高自己的文化素养和精神境界，不断提高自己的灵性修行和智慧层级。最终达到智慧升级或智慧开悟的目标。这就是“智人”向“慧人”升华的基本逻辑。
这种元宇宙中的市场倒逼机制，对每个人都有效。除非你不想在元宇宙中赚钱、不想获得社会成就感。否则，只要你想赚钱、想赚更多的钱，你就必须创新和创造更多新的精神型商品，去满足社会需求。而你的精神型商品能满足社会需求的前提，是能让人们产生共识，愿意去分享和共享。这就逼得你不得不去不断提升自己的精神境界、智慧层级。
这样的一个分工，这样的一个方向。对人类自身来说，确保了人性回归、身心合一。让人性不再有任何被异化、被奴役的可能。无疑是人类文明发展最为理想的一种选择。
对人类如此，对发展中国家、对地球，也同样如此。
5.2.3.2 确保人类社会的基本平等
这里所指的人类社会基本平等，是指这个地球上每一个公民，在衣食住行等基本保障上的公平。而不会再出现一部分人可以花天酒地、挥霍无度，另一部分人却食不果腹、衣不遮体的现象。因为，这是一种社会病态，不是一个文明社会应有的现象。但是，在人类物质资源、物质商品还极度匮乏的时代，这种设想只是一种空想，是完全没可能实现的。但是，今天人类社会的物质财富已经极大丰富了起来，保障全球每一个公民最基本的衣食住行，完全没有问题。问题在于如何保障，如何分配。马克思也设想过，共产主义社会人类应该按需分配。可是，这个“需”怎么衡量，谁来衡量？我说自己食量大，需要多吃一份食品；我说自己身体畏寒，需要多穿一件衣服。这显然不行。
然而，有了超级人工智能、有了大数据、有了算法保障和算法信任，人类的需求显然可以由机器说了算。
譬如，联合国在引领人类社会进入元宇宙、打造数字地球的同时。也在物质地球上，着手打造一个“超级人工智能全球统筹保障中心（SAGIPC：Super AI Global Integration and Protection Centre）”。纳入这个SAGIPC的每一位地球公民的身体数据、体能数据、健康数据、生活数据、消耗数据，都时时刻刻被它记录并储存下来。然后，根据SAGIPC这个阶段可以提供的衣食住行资源，将其中95%部分，合理分配给每一位SAGIPC公民。这部分基本保障是无偿的，也就是完全免费的。另外的5%，可以商品化，谁出价高，就可以卖给谁。获得的利润，用于SAGIPC的再生产。
也可能这个SAGIPC的分配还不是绝对平等和合理。但是，它已经是所有我们能设想的方案中，最为合理的了。随着人工智能不断进步，大数据不断完善，物质资源不断丰富，其平等性与合理性无疑会越来越好。
现阶段，既要遏制全球碳排放速度，又要保障发展中国家和地区的人民基本生存权和发展权。目前，无论是联合国还是其他机构，都找不到任何一种真正可行的办法。但是，一旦将人机分工落实到这些国家。这个最为棘手的问题将迎刃而解。我2022年1月8日，给联合国粮农组织负责人大卫比斯利的公开信中已有部分描述（https://link.medium.com/a2QRtcNyoyb）。 更为具体的实施方案，我们会在后面谈到。这里就不再赘述。
不仅如此，人机大分工的模式不断成熟后，像俄乌冲突问题、台海危机问题、阿富汗问题、伊朗问题等全球地区冲突危机，都可以获得一揽子解决。因为，所有全球地区冲突背后的实质，都不过是利益问题、安全问题和信仰问题。而在人机大分工场景下，这些问题都可以有根本解决路径。
5.2.3.3 确保地球健康可持续运转
物质地球，至少在一个可以看得见的未来，都是绝大部分人类肉身赖以生存和成长的唯一家园。如何保障这个物质地球健康可持续发展，人类自身因为种种历史原因和现实原因，几乎是很难做好这一点了。但是，如果把地球治理和维护的任务交给SAGIPC，那就是另外一个新天地了。
保护我们的地球生态，是一个极其复杂的问题。除了全球变暖这个严峻的气候问题外，还有其它一系列挑战。包括但不限于：
生物多样性丧失：森林砍伐、栖息地破坏和过度捕捞等人类活动导致植物和动物物种数量大幅减少，许多物种现在面临灭绝的威胁。
土地退化：工业化农业、采矿和城市化等人类活动导致土壤、水和植被退化，水土流失。土地退化还可能导致温室气体排放量增加并加剧气候变化。
环境污染：石化燃料的使用、工业过程和废物处理，塑料污染和电子垃圾等，这些污染物释放到环境中，都会影响空气、水和土壤质量。
资源枯竭：人口的增长和消费水平的提高导致淡水、森林和矿产等自然资源枯竭，从长远来看这是不可持续的。
所有这一切，联合国成立几十年来，情况并没有得到根本改善，很多方面反而更恶化了。利益冲突和人性弱点，注定了人类自身的努力是非常有限的。但是，如果人类把对各方面的要求提交给SAGIPC，由它来按照地球当时的实际情况，以最负责任、最合理有效的方式，杜绝过度砍伐和捕捞。治理土地退化和水土流失。严格把关污染物的排放。保护自然资源不至于枯竭。是完全有可能的了。那时候，无论你是谁，无论是国家、政府、机构还是个人，在物质地球的保护和治理方面，都必须无条件服从SAGIPC的管理。因为，唯有它才可以站在中立立场，没有任何私心，无法贿赂或作弊，最公平公正的处理这一切事物。换作任何由人类控制的中心机构都不可能做到这一点。
对此，人们或许会认为。这样设想没问题。但是，要想在物质地球上真正落实这么一个SAGIPC，根本没可能。任何一个国家或政府，都不可能将自己的国家主权交给一个机器中心来管理。超级人工智能中心，如果仅仅是作为一个全球治理的参考系统，或许还有可能性。而我们认为，构建一个全球物质世界的中心化管理系统，肯定有难度，而且需要时间。但是，从根本上看，这是保障我们物质地球健康运转，甚至是保障整个实宇宙健康运转，唯一可行的解决方案。只要循序渐进，做好前期的样板。实现SAGIPC这个目标只是时间问题。
这里面，最核心的突破口就是见证。当参与到这个SAGIPC中的国家和地区，无论是物质资源的利用、开发和保护，还是物质商品的设质量、安全性和分配的公平性，人工智能的水平都明显高于人类时。就算是这个国家的政府不愿意，人民也会不愿意吗？人民自然会站出来，要求以公投形式决定是否加入超级人工统筹保障中心系统。所以，只要我们相信，在对于物质世界的治理、物质资源的利用方面，未来人工智能一定会远远超过人类。那么，就没有任何理由担心，这个SAGIPC最终会成为物质地球的治理者和管理者。
果真能如此。那这个人机大分工、这个SAGIPC，不就把目前我们所担忧的所有人类社会难题都解决了。是的，对于物质地球来说，只要有了钱，SAGIPC基本什么都能解决。可是，钱从哪里来？人类社会的新财富从哪里来？需要建立怎样的一个新财富系统，才能保障人类社会有用不完的钱。这才是所有问题中最棘手、最根本的环节。而要解决这个环节，还需要从元宇宙和数字地球的价值认知切入。
（未完待续）
