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When should people attempt to regulate AI, when it's too late? Stopping a problem before it happens is called foresight. And if you pay attention to the press

When should people attempt to regulate AI, when it's too late? Stopping a problem before it happens is called foresight. And if you pay attention to the press, it's not about killing us all, it's about disrupting the world, i.e. destroying jobs.

semi-extrinsic 9y ago
The reason I don't buy the "destroying jobs" argument is that we have tens of thousands of jobs just in the small country where I live that could be automated away by 1980s technology. For a US-specific example, look at the way you submit your taxes. That shit could be 99% automated away, like it is in many European countries already, and you have several large companies that would come crashing down, together with many thousands of government employees suddenly without a job. There's no AI required. Why hasn't it been done already? Why should AI change that?
- gnaritas 9y ago
  Those jobs exist due to regulatory capture and the difficulty of changing tax law in a bitterly divided nation, just because a few industries found a way to use government to prevent progress and automation doesn't mean progress and automation isn't a danger; most industries won't be protected by regulatory capture. The "destroying jobs" thing is not an argument, it's a fact, it's what automation does, there's nothing to "buy", you either understand it or you don't.
  - chii 9y ago
    > most industries won't be protected by regulatory capture. And that's s good thing. It's unfortunate for those whose jobs are automated away, but without automation, goods and services can't keep up with the increase in population and demand. What's needed isn't prevention of automation, but how to increase the number of people with enough education to implement even more automation.
    - gnaritas 9y ago
      I agree that it's a good thing, but your last statement is simply not in accordance with reality. The median IQ is 100, half the population is of below average intelligence, the problem we face is what to do when labor is no longer valued because machines do it all and half the population or more has no skills of value to the market. Education helps the top few percent stay ahead of the machines, it does nothing for the bulk of society who are not and will not ever be smart. Thus it's an economic problem of resource distribution, we must move away from a labor based economy if we allow automation to continue. We cannot handle massive automation with our current economic system.
      - chii 9y ago
        > bulk of society who are not and will not ever be smart. It used to be that most people are illiterate, and cant do maths either. I'm sure if you measure IQ back then, it'd be quite low. And yet, the population got education, and lo and behold, the avg IQ increased. Making the assumption that intelligence remains constant is wrong. I'd even suggest that most people are capable of doing things that you might consider require high intelligence, like writing code, or doing research, or designing solutions. Those who currently can't are merely so because of lack of opportunity (especially during formative years). Making the money to increase the level of education will have the indirect effect of curbing the automation and unemployment problem.
      - mmirate 9y ago
        > the problem we face is what to do when labor is no longer valued because machines do it all and half the population or more has no skills of value to the market Need anything be done? You said it yourself: that portion of the population has no skills of value to the market. They're worthless.

semi-extrinsic 9y ago

The reason I don't buy the "destroying jobs" argument is that we have tens of thousands of jobs just in the small country where I live that could be automated away by 1980s technology. For a US-specific example, look at the way you submit your taxes. That shit could be 99% automated away, like it is in many European countries already, and you have several large companies that would come crashing down, together with many thousands of government employees suddenly without a job. There's no AI required. Why hasn't it been done already? Why should AI change that?

gnaritas 9y ago
Those jobs exist due to regulatory capture and the difficulty of changing tax law in a bitterly divided nation, just because a few industries found a way to use government to prevent progress and automation doesn't mean progress and automation isn't a danger; most industries won't be protected by regulatory capture. The "destroying jobs" thing is not an argument, it's a fact, it's what automation does, there's nothing to "buy", you either understand it or you don't.
- chii 9y ago
  > most industries won't be protected by regulatory capture. And that's s good thing. It's unfortunate for those whose jobs are automated away, but without automation, goods and services can't keep up with the increase in population and demand. What's needed isn't prevention of automation, but how to increase the number of people with enough education to implement even more automation.
  - gnaritas 9y ago
    I agree that it's a good thing, but your last statement is simply not in accordance with reality. The median IQ is 100, half the population is of below average intelligence, the problem we face is what to do when labor is no longer valued because machines do it all and half the population or more has no skills of value to the market. Education helps the top few percent stay ahead of the machines, it does nothing for the bulk of society who are not and will not ever be smart. Thus it's an economic problem of resource distribution, we must move away from a labor based economy if we allow automation to continue. We cannot handle massive automation with our current economic system.
    - chii 9y ago
      > bulk of society who are not and will not ever be smart. It used to be that most people are illiterate, and cant do maths either. I'm sure if you measure IQ back then, it'd be quite low. And yet, the population got education, and lo and behold, the avg IQ increased. Making the assumption that intelligence remains constant is wrong. I'd even suggest that most people are capable of doing things that you might consider require high intelligence, like writing code, or doing research, or designing solutions. Those who currently can't are merely so because of lack of opportunity (especially during formative years). Making the money to increase the level of education will have the indirect effect of curbing the automation and unemployment problem.
    - mmirate 9y ago
      > the problem we face is what to do when labor is no longer valued because machines do it all and half the population or more has no skills of value to the market Need anything be done? You said it yourself: that portion of the population has no skills of value to the market. They're worthless.