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Yes, and that's why atomic weaponry is unusable and largely irrelevant. In contrast, AI is eminently usable in business and government, and in such a wide rang
by randcraw 10y ago
Yes, and that's why atomic weaponry is unusable and largely irrelevant. In contrast, AI is eminently usable in business and government, and in such a wide range of means and purposes that it is much more likely to change our lives, in ways that are largely still unimaginable. As more AI is adopted and shapes policy and practice throughout the world, business, gov't, and Joe Public will gradually relinquish ever more personal information to it, inviting excess oversight, micromanagement, and abuse by those who control the AI.
After all, the corporations joined in this partnership are the very behemoths that gather and control almost all the world's social and personal information, which is their primary product and essential to their revenue stream and their very survival. If the public (and gov't policy makers) ever conclude that these firms and their AI are a rising threat, then like various European countries, the US too might enact 'onerous' regulation which could diminish their access to our data, AKA their life's blood.
I think THAT'S what this AI partnership is really about. It's the start of a political action initiative, apparently led by unthreatening figures like CS academics rather than capitalists. It's intended to diffuse the visibility of these companies' advancing political interests and lobbying in Washington so their growing injection of AI into our lives won't suddenly show up on our radar one day soon as an inbound threat from the clear blue sky above. Once they gain a sufficient foothold in Washington and assure that we remain inured to the idea of AI, they can turn up the heat until we froggies boil, blissfully oblivious to the rising clouds of steam.
- treehau5 10y agoWhether people agree with the philosophical or political aspects of your assessment aside, this was one of the more thought-invoking comments I have read on this subject in this thread and threads like it in a while. Thank you for writing it.