5 ms·

I think this is how AI takes over humanity. Humans are so short-sighted, we don't even need a superintelligence to outsmart us. We happily stand by and collect

by luplex 6y ago

I think this is how AI takes over humanity. Humans are so short-sighted, we don't even need a superintelligence to outsmart us. We happily stand by and collect profits while letting the AI do whatever it wants. Really, we need regulation that makes companies care about side-effects of their AI technology.

skohan 6y ago
I have sometimes mused about how we have worried about "sky net" since the 90's, but we've already let AI have power to control our lives to some extent. For instance, there are cases you can point to where some normal person on Twitter with a couple dozen followers posted the wrong thing, it blew up into an international story, and they eventually got fired from their real-world job for it. Who made the decision that this person's views should be widely scrutinized? In a lot of cases it was the algorithm: for whatever reason that tweet drew engagement, so a massive spotlight was put on this mostly-private individual. In a real way that's an example of an AI system deciding to take away someone's livelihood.
- ramphastidae 6y ago
  > Who made the decision that this person's views should be widely scrutinized? This is a serious stretch. The algo didn’t force that person to sign up and post their every ignorant thought on a public forum. People can just put down their phones but they love the attention. Individuals are just as guilty for giving power over themselves to social media.
  - skohan 6y ago
    I'm not "blaming the AI" for this person's behavior. My point is that there was a non-human component in this decision process which led to this person losing their livelihood. To make an old-world analogue, in 1980 for someone to be held to account for an objectionable view, it probably would have involved some journalist making the decision to write a story about the comments which someone made. That human component in deciding what is newsworthy has been replaced by a machine in some cases. Another example would be dating apps. Now we have algorithms which make decisions about which parts of the dating pool an individual will have access to. In a real sense, non-human intelligence is playing some role in who gets to pass on their genes to the next generation, and with whom. I'm not saying that our lives are ruled by machines, but they're not completely not governed by machines either.
  - mywittyname 6y ago
    If anything, the next generation of people will learn to avoid online polarized engagement using their own identities. They will create these curated and sterile personas under their real name while using a nom de plume for actual content. I'm kind of surprised that aliases have not widely taken off already. But I suppose the consequences are not very severe yet.
    - iamatworknow 6y ago
      >I'm kind of surprised that aliases have not widely taken off already. The funny thing is that these aliases already existed, but we've largely eschewed them for our "real" identities. Prior to probably Facebook I think every interaction I had with other people online was behind a screen name detached from my real world identity.
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
    - IQunder130 6y ago
      Aliases used to be the default before the social media revolution, though. If anything the trend has been decidedly in the other direction - using one's real name was seen as irresponsible just 15 years ago, whereas now it seems the average internet user is not even aware pseudonymity is an option.
  - blub 6y ago
    It's not the ignorant thoughts which are considered wrongthink nowadays, but reasonable opinions that don't toe the line on controversial topics.
Consultant32452 6y ago
Wait until people figure out how much power the AIs already have over election outcomes.
- minikites 6y ago
  What?
  - Consultant32452 6y ago
    The AI determines which political articles and posts you see. The AI determines if you get reminded to register/vote. At the extremes the AI has a very strong impact on whether you believe Obama is a secret Muslim or Trump is a Russian asset.
    - wizzwizz4 6y ago
      Which means people best able to play people to increase the "this post is good" score of the AI will sway the election results. It's not enough to control them, but I'd imagine you can tip a close election by 10% or so.
      - Consultant32452 6y ago
        Dr. Robert Epstein has done some research on this and has testified before Congress about it. Here's one article. https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-google-search-bias-elections-20190322-story.html https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-google-search-bia...
        wizzwizz4 6y ago
        Reality has a left-wing bias. It's not surprising that people who research things drift away from right-wing rhetoric.
        throwaway3699 6y ago
mym1990 6y ago
It reminds me of Spirited Away and how everyone fed No Face for a little gold in return, but in the end they all got eaten.

by luplex 6y ago

skohan 6y ago

I have sometimes mused about how we have worried about "sky net" since the 90's, but we've already let AI have power to control our lives to some extent. For instance, there are cases you can point to where some normal person on Twitter with a couple dozen followers posted the wrong thing, it blew up into an international story, and they eventually got fired from their real-world job for it. Who made the decision that this person's views should be widely scrutinized? In a lot of cases it was the algorithm: for whatever reason that tweet drew engagement, so a massive spotlight was put on this mostly-private individual. In a real way that's an example of an AI system deciding to take away someone's livelihood.

ramphastidae 6y ago
> Who made the decision that this person's views should be widely scrutinized? This is a serious stretch. The algo didn’t force that person to sign up and post their every ignorant thought on a public forum. People can just put down their phones but they love the attention. Individuals are just as guilty for giving power over themselves to social media.
- skohan 6y ago
  I'm not "blaming the AI" for this person's behavior. My point is that there was a non-human component in this decision process which led to this person losing their livelihood. To make an old-world analogue, in 1980 for someone to be held to account for an objectionable view, it probably would have involved some journalist making the decision to write a story about the comments which someone made. That human component in deciding what is newsworthy has been replaced by a machine in some cases. Another example would be dating apps. Now we have algorithms which make decisions about which parts of the dating pool an individual will have access to. In a real sense, non-human intelligence is playing some role in who gets to pass on their genes to the next generation, and with whom. I'm not saying that our lives are ruled by machines, but they're not completely not governed by machines either.
- mywittyname 6y ago
  If anything, the next generation of people will learn to avoid online polarized engagement using their own identities. They will create these curated and sterile personas under their real name while using a nom de plume for actual content. I'm kind of surprised that aliases have not widely taken off already. But I suppose the consequences are not very severe yet.
  - iamatworknow 6y ago
    >I'm kind of surprised that aliases have not widely taken off already. The funny thing is that these aliases already existed, but we've largely eschewed them for our "real" identities. Prior to probably Facebook I think every interaction I had with other people online was behind a screen name detached from my real world identity.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - IQunder130 6y ago
    Aliases used to be the default before the social media revolution, though. If anything the trend has been decidedly in the other direction - using one's real name was seen as irresponsible just 15 years ago, whereas now it seems the average internet user is not even aware pseudonymity is an option.
- blub 6y ago
  It's not the ignorant thoughts which are considered wrongthink nowadays, but reasonable opinions that don't toe the line on controversial topics.

Consultant32452 6y ago

Wait until people figure out how much power the AIs already have over election outcomes.

minikites 6y ago
What?
- Consultant32452 6y ago
  The AI determines which political articles and posts you see. The AI determines if you get reminded to register/vote. At the extremes the AI has a very strong impact on whether you believe Obama is a secret Muslim or Trump is a Russian asset.
  - wizzwizz4 6y ago
    Which means people best able to play people to increase the "this post is good" score of the AI will sway the election results. It's not enough to control them, but I'd imagine you can tip a close election by 10% or so.
    - Consultant32452 6y ago
      Dr. Robert Epstein has done some research on this and has testified before Congress about it. Here's one article. https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-google-search-bias-elections-20190322-story.html https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-google-search-bia...
      - wizzwizz4 6y ago
        Reality has a left-wing bias. It's not surprising that people who research things drift away from right-wing rhetoric.
        throwaway3699 6y ago

mym1990 6y ago

It reminds me of Spirited Away and how everyone fed No Face for a little gold in return, but in the end they all got eaten.