Whither Survival Instinct

 The Statesman 13th January 2026

Survival instinct refers to the desire that an animal has for self- preservation - behaviours designed to protect an individual from harm and ensure survival and propagation of a species. When humans were in their hunter gatherer phase, an important survival skill was how to protect themselves from potential predators. People spent time finding ways to hone their own fitness, ability to use stealth, as well as the tools that would aid them. In cases where the predator was too powerful for one individual to overpower, people learnt to form groups and pool their might and energy to confront the predator collectively. Today, daunting and more complex man-made challenges threaten us, yet we seem to delight in adding fuel to the fire.

Whereas focused, task specific chatbots (narrow AI) are useful for daily chores, and large language models (LLMs) aid with research, what is unclear is: why are we allowing a more advanced entity like agentic AI, that has the potential to marginalize us, to be created?

The fastest computer, Frontier, can perform a quintillion calculations per second (exaflops). Even regular computers, working at nanoseconds, are far quicker than humans who take milliseconds to compute. AI can arrive at medical diagnoses based on data inputs from diagnostic machines, and can even create predictive mathematical models. It can generate entire speeches or videos based on simple prompts in mere minutes. A Goldman Sachs prediction estimates that 3-14% people could be at risk of losing their jobs to AI in the coming years.

 Advanced AI is encroaching on human relationships. Several contemporary films like ‘Her,’ ‘Ich Bin Din Mensch’ portray bonds between humans and AI that are concerningly deep. It has even been programmed to act as a psychologist – sometimes with tragic consequences. It helps curate the content we see, often without our knowledge or explicit consent.

Each task or practice in which AI replaces humans leads to the loss of genuine skill and craftsmanship. As we keep outsourcing communication, research, planning, and creativity we are becoming less adept at all of them, not to mention, far lazier. The result is that we are losing our instinct, our nuanced communication which defines our personality, and our ability to search for words. The calculator has blunted our ability to do quick mental maths. A generation of mentally agile shopkeepers who could quickly total revenues in their minds are reduced to tapping out calculator keys.

Not content with that, we are even sharing our planet’s scarce and precious energy resources with AI. As per Anthropocene, the average energy consumption is 79 Gigajoules per person per year (1 Gigajoule is equal to the energy of 26 litres of Gasoline). This is more than enough to maintain a decent standard of living (for many lifestyle metrics even 30 GJ would be adequate). However, dozens of developing countries, several of them in Africa, do not have the energy reserves required for providing this to their citizens.

On the other hand, energy consumed by advanced AI is an order of magnitude more than humans. The human brain consumes about 20 joules per second whereas computers need thousands of joules per second just to generate simple text. An article from Frontiers in Artificial intelligence in 2023 stated that human brains were at least 9 x 10⁸ times more energy efficient than computers. There is an energy crisis facing the planet and environmentalists advocate for renewable energy to save the planet from global warming. Millions wallow in poverty. In this scenario does it make sense to allocate such a huge share of resources to an industry that can create software that may ultimately dispense with us?

Another self- defeating aspect is our willingness to wantonly and relentlessly destroy the one sure thing that sustains us all - Nature.

A recent study published in Herpetology Notes described how a few members of a rare species called the Galaxy frog were discovered in the Western Ghats in 2020. However, by 2021, they were nowhere to be seen. Apparently, groups of unmindful photographers who heard of their existence had overturned logs, used strong flash bulbs, and held the frogs without gloves causing them to die out, as per local witnesses.

Trees, forests, islands and even mountains are being sacrificed to the insatiable juggernaut of some grandiose and unsustainable level of ‘development.’ Wildlife has decreased by 65% and even national highways go through forests. Earth’s forest cover has dwindled from 48% in 1900 to about 31% ((equivalent to about 4.06 billion hectares) as per reports from the Forest Stewardship Council and Food and Agricultural Organisation (UN). Russia is blessed with the highest forest share in the planet at 20%.

On a recent visit to Coorg, I was delighted to walk past several untouched, ‘sacred forests’ – the locals believe that the abode of the deity is the entire forest and treat it as divine, therefore people are not permitted to trespass - barring one week of worship at a specified corner of the forest once a year. This tradition of sacred forests is present in other parts of the world as well. Sadly, the number of such open shrines are dwindling. One fifth of the world’s forests are in protected areas, but with ecological safeguards being overturned by vested business influences that seek to mine ores and minerals, we do not know how long they will remain safe. Since advanced technology helps people reach deeper depths in the ocean, even the ocean floor is not immune to drilling plans by humanity. Nothing is left untouched!

We have only to see the intricate patterns in nature, be it wasps using fig fruits as nurseries for their little ones, the exquisite nests of birds and spiders, towering majestic tree species and a myriad other stunning colourful life forms – to feel a sense of reverence and awe.

It takes decades for one tree to develop a thick bark, an extensive canopy, and a deep system of rootlets within the soil, for mosses and lichens to cover its trunk and bees, birds, insects and so may arboreal mammals to call it their long-term home. How can we wilfully lose such precious ecosystems? Especially when, in some cases, we lose them just for hedonistic gain like fancier furniture or land for real estate. A hundred-year-old tree cannot be substituted for by a recently planted sapling (the so-called compensatory reforestation).

In the prevailing consumerist environment, the frenetic pursuit to acquire items with huge price tags often blunts our appreciation of the things that are truly priceless. Viewing money as the ultimate panacea blinds us to its ability to erode aspects of the chance to live a longer, healthier, and happier life. As a doctor, I am astounded when successful, experienced executives already drawing stratospheric salaries are willing to trade good health, time for self- reflection and time with family for a further increment at the workplace.

Families are torn asunder when happily co-existing siblings begin to fight over inheritance. Many an aging person is abandoned by their children after signing off their property to them -they are undeservingly perceived as a mere source of money rather than being appreciated for the guardians and mentors that they have been. Humanity zealously clacks away on keyboards while in the background sits a disconsolate child, relying on their own screen for company, or a furry pet desperate for a pat. Although humans, like all species, are endowed with a profound parenting instinct, it is conceivable that the constant lure of money has subtly altered our mental blueprint. Consequentially, the proclivity to nurture future generations seems to be subverted towards nurturing megalithic corporations and individual bank balances instead.

We are reaching the event horizon of survival as a species. A species that has collectively made it through so many calamities, most recently the COVID pandemic, surely has the resources deep within to weather any storm. The Pandemic, in fact, underlined that it was human innovation using human molecules, human kindness and human collaboration that brought us out of the tunnel.

Perhaps our learning from this experience should be that humanity has reached a point of sufficiency. Do we really need further advancements in AI, especially with the added environmental price tag? Instead, we would do well to work on our own programming – to revert to developing our own potential, most importantly by thinking ourselves. It is time to get intelligent!