Some old people are oppressed by the fear of death. In the young there is a justification for this feeling. Young men who have reason to fear that they will be killed in battle may justifiably feel bitter in the thought that they have been cheated of the best things that life has to offer. But in an old man who has known human joys and sorrows, and has achieved whatever work it was in him to do, the fear of death is somewhat abject and ignoble. The best way to overcome it - so at least it seems to me - is to make your interests gradually wider and more impersonal, until bit by bit the walls of the ego recede, and your life becomes increasingly merged in the universal life. An individual human existence should be like a river - small at first, narrowly contained within its banks, and rushing passionately past boulders and over waterfalls. Gradually the river grows wider, the banks recede, the waters flow more quietly, and in the end, without any visible break, they become merged in the sea, and painlessly lose their individual being. The man who, in old age, can see his life in this way, will not suffer from the fear of death, since the things he cares for will continue. And if, with the decay of vitality, weariness increases, the thought of rest will be not unwelcome. I should wish to die while still at work, knowing that others will carry on what I can no longer do, and content in the thought that what was possible has been done.
Some scientists in the field of artificial intelligence seem to think that a breakthrough in creating true artificial intelligence will be made within the next few decades. I am not so sure. I think it will be much longer before we see machines that can truly think like humans. True artificial intelligence would have to be able to understand the world in the same way that humans do, and this is a very difficult problem. Machines can already do many things that humans can do, but they do not understand what they are doing in the same way that humans do. For example, a computer can play chess very well, but it does not understand the game of chess in the way that a human does. It does not have the same kind of consciousness that a human has. Consciousness is a very difficult concept to define, but it is something that is very important for understanding the nature of intelligence. Without consciousness, it is difficult to say that a machine is truly intelligent.
Another problem with creating true artificial intelligence is that we do not really know how the human brain works. We know a great deal about the structure of the brain, but we do not know how it processes information and creates thoughts. This is another area where much more research is needed. Some scientists think that we will be able to create artificial intelligence by simulating the structure and function of the human brain, but this is also a very difficult task. The human brain is an extremely complex organ, and it is very difficult to simulate its structure and function accurately.
In conclusion, while the idea of creating true artificial intelligence is very exciting, I think it will be a long time before we see machines that can truly think like humans. There are many difficult problems that need to be solved before we can achieve this goal.