Symbiotic and Parasitic Relationships Between Memes and Genes: For a Better Symbiosis with Artificial Intelligence

There are two types of symbiosis between different species (or between different genes): mutualistic symbiosis, in which both parties benefit, and parasitic symbiosis, in which only one party benefits. Similarly, there can be both mutually beneficial and unidirectional relationships of symbiosis between technology and humans (or between technology’s memes and human genes). Usually, technology is widely used in society because it brings benefits to humans, but there are some technologies that are widely used without contributing to the survival, reproduction, happiness or prosperity of the humans who use them. Such relationships can be called “parasitism” of humans by technology. Parasitic technology takes advantage of the vulnerabilities of human physiology and psychology to make people dependent on that technology. In this paper, we will consider the relationship between technology and humans from the perspectives of “symbiosis” and “parasitism,” and explore how artificial intelligence can parasitize humans.