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Artificial intelligence might not be able to predict the future with complete certainty, but it’s getting pretty good at offering educated guesses of our potential future.
When it comes to WWIII, it's predicted the worst countries to be in, the possible triggers of another war and some worrying figures when it comes to estimating death tolls - as well as the number one 'warning sign' of a Third World War.
Now, there are recent warnings that Russia could be targeting global internet infrastructure after there was a series of attacks on subsea cables.
In response, military experts have reportedly urged NATO to prepare for potential large-scale internet blackouts.
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According to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, the consequences of a global internet shutdown would be nothing short of 'society-altering massive.'
Total communication blackout
The first and probably most notable thing we'd discover is the outage of digital communication, ChatGPT said. This would mean a shutdown of email, messaging apps like Facebook's Messenger and WhatsApp and video calling apps like Zoom and Slack.
Social media would disappear in an instant, meaning there's no posting about your post-internet woes on Snapchat or Instagram and streaming services like Netflix and Hulu would no longer operate (maybe it's time to dig out those old DVDs?)
According to the OpenAI chatbot, mobile networks might hold out for a bit, but most rely heavily on internet infrastructure.
Financial freeze
Online banking and digital payments such as PayPal, Venmo and Apple Pay would all go offline. ChatGPT added that credit card transactions would stop working, as well as some ATMs. Meanwhile, global stock markets would panic as stock exchanges rely on real-time data feeds and connectivity. This, of course, means saying goodbye to all forms of online shopping as Amazon, eBay and Etsy would all cease working.
Travel and emergency systems crash
Without services like Google Maps or Uber, getting around would be a real challenge. Additionally, air traffic control systems use internet-linked protocols and databases and would fail, as per AI.
The problem worsens when emergency services take the internet hit, especially if they rely on cloud-based coordination. Military communications could switch to independent or satellite systems, but there would be major delays in the meantime.
Long-term economic and psychological effects
In the bigger picture, the entire tech and finance industries would collapse or need to completely reinvent themselves. Millions of digital jobs would vanish overnight, leading to a spike in unemployment. Many people would undoubtedly experience a digital withdrawal, while others might adapt to an offline world surprisingly fast.
Governments and businesses would scramble to create private networks or backup systems and fingers would likely be pointed at hackers or rival states, causing further international tensions.
Countries like China that control their own internet infrastructure might bounce back faster, but global communication or surveillance on climate or health would be nearly impossible.
