> I see Jaron Lanier’s position as exactly the opposite, in an interesting accounting of second order effects. Interesting. I had the opportunity to talk to him

> I see Jaron Lanier’s position as exactly the opposite, in an interesting accounting of second order effects. Interesting. I had the opportunity to talk to him after his talk in Boston, he was pretty pessimistic and struggled to define his conception of humanity without a negative referent. > You are imagining that AI is going to be fantastically impactful in reducing human drudgery ... Nope I never said that nor do I imagine do humanity in a world where AI magically solves all problems. I call for more conversations about ethics because I do believe it has the potential for negative implications on society. My definition of humanity lies outside of technology and is ontological. Here's a thought experiment where Jaron's definition of humanity fails. In a world where we have infinite resources and everything, what do you do. It's thought experiment I run often to ground my values and try to define myself as more than my work. I think of those around me, my time with my loved ones and friends. Humanity and meaning becomes for me the ability to enjoy and witness the lives of those around me, the relationships I cultivate and shared experience I have. If Jaron is preplexed by a kid asking what's the point of life if robots can do everything, his framing of humanity seems severely lacking. > To give the lion’s share of the credit/benefits/power to AI/algorithms vests all the agency in the hands of those who can control/influence them, and condemns those who cannot to a life “below the API” (even if they might be crucial to generate training data) where their voices are drowned out. This is not unique to AI. The digital divide existed before AI. It's a collective action problem with opportunities for public policy solutions. > As JL says multiple times, he is very excited about (the same) AI research when we perceive it as “just” code/models/linear-algebra ... Sure define AI research whatever way you want. That's not particularly helpful though to change the outcome he fears. It doesn't provide a way to predict unintended or intended consequences of fundamental research questions in context of societal impacts.