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This thread is cathartic. I've been feeling uncomfortable with the level of control being sought over the usage of these tools for a while, but didn't want to r

by nperez 4y ago

This thread is cathartic. I've been feeling uncomfortable with the level of control being sought over the usage of these tools for a while, but didn't want to ruffle the wrong feathers while just getting into AI as a hobby. I think there will be a pretty short window in which all of this hand-waving will be taken seriously. Not because AI won't be used for terrible things (I'm sure it already is) but because consumer hardware can already be used to build a dataset and train a model, and eventually there will come a realization - it doesn't matter how ethicists want "the general public" to use AI. The general public is fully capable of figuring out on their own how to do whatever they feel like doing. It's like a compiler or a hammer or a car, all of which can be used for positive or negative purposes. I do understand the fear of being sued or targeted in the media over misuse, though. The person misusing technology should (obviously imo) be held responsible for that, but since it's new tech, the tech will be taking the blame for the first really controversial cases of disinfo and/or harassment that utilize it.

fny 4y ago
> it doesn't matter how ethicists want "the general public" to use AI Something tells me these pricks will end up arguing for a reversion to thin-client compute. It is in their financial interest too after all.
- colordrops 4y ago
  Are you referring to chromebooks?
- eurasiantiger 4y ago
  You mean like the apps are all running on a server and we only have a client used to… browse them?
  - CuriouslyC 4y ago
    Except that web apps have become pretty thick, with most of the computation going on in the browser in many cases.
- cheschire 4y ago
  7 hours after you posted this, the top article on HN is about how cloud desktops aren’t that great, and the comments in there are predominantly supportive of that sentiment. Funny coincidence!
- pdntspa 4y ago
  Reversion... we're already there! The only people using their computers to compute something more than a web browser are creatives and power users
Roark66 4y ago
Exactly. Probably they already started lobbying against selling high end cheap GPUs to the public. No doubt ether going proof of stake is a huge blow to their agenda. They can't claim all those GPUs are just wasting energy for crypto mining. Now they have to come up with different arguments. I can already see it. Just think of all the energy wasted training AI at home! I can imagine police drones with IR sensors scanning the cities for the heat signatures of illegal AI "farms". Talking seriously, however they try to spin it, advanced AI (same as every other big scientific/engineering achievement) will be predominantly good. So let's say there is time when AI can create convincing videos of people engaging in various compromising "activities". When this becomes widespread it will give plausible deniability to any potential victim of such attack(with real or deep faked materials) . In a world where any compromising video or picture can be made with anyone, the value of such materials for wannabee blackmailer diminishes rapidly. However, in a world where there is only few entities that can produce such materials and they do so sparingly those entities get a tool that gives them huge power (especially in democracies where popular opinion decides who governs).
- trention 4y ago
  >advanced AI (same as every other big scientific/engineering achievement) will be predominantly good. They should start teaching the problem of induction in schools, evidently it's needed.
  - bheadmaster 4y ago
    That's a really convoluted way of saying what amounts to "you're dumb". How about you present a counterargument - why would advanced AI be predominantly bad? Unless, of course, your only counterargument is the classic philosophical statement of "we can't know nuffin".
    - trention 4y ago
      Logical fallacies don't necessarily equal stupidity though sometimes they do. A bunch of arguments about why AI would be bad have already been advanced. For the economic one, refer to Martin Ford. For the existential one, refer to Bostrom.

by nperez 4y ago

fny 4y ago

> it doesn't matter how ethicists want "the general public" to use AI Something tells me these pricks will end up arguing for a reversion to thin-client compute. It is in their financial interest too after all.

colordrops 4y ago
Are you referring to chromebooks?
eurasiantiger 4y ago
You mean like the apps are all running on a server and we only have a client used to… browse them?
- CuriouslyC 4y ago
  Except that web apps have become pretty thick, with most of the computation going on in the browser in many cases.
cheschire 4y ago
7 hours after you posted this, the top article on HN is about how cloud desktops aren’t that great, and the comments in there are predominantly supportive of that sentiment. Funny coincidence!
pdntspa 4y ago
Reversion... we're already there! The only people using their computers to compute something more than a web browser are creatives and power users

Roark66 4y ago

Exactly. Probably they already started lobbying against selling high end cheap GPUs to the public. No doubt ether going proof of stake is a huge blow to their agenda. They can't claim all those GPUs are just wasting energy for crypto mining. Now they have to come up with different arguments. I can already see it. Just think of all the energy wasted training AI at home! I can imagine police drones with IR sensors scanning the cities for the heat signatures of illegal AI "farms". Talking seriously, however they try to spin it, advanced AI (same as every other big scientific/engineering achievement) will be predominantly good. So let's say there is time when AI can create convincing videos of people engaging in various compromising "activities". When this becomes widespread it will give plausible deniability to any potential victim of such attack(with real or deep faked materials) . In a world where any compromising video or picture can be made with anyone, the value of such materials for wannabee blackmailer diminishes rapidly. However, in a world where there is only few entities that can produce such materials and they do so sparingly those entities get a tool that gives them huge power (especially in democracies where popular opinion decides who governs).

trention 4y ago
>advanced AI (same as every other big scientific/engineering achievement) will be predominantly good. They should start teaching the problem of induction in schools, evidently it's needed.
- bheadmaster 4y ago
  That's a really convoluted way of saying what amounts to "you're dumb". How about you present a counterargument - why would advanced AI be predominantly bad? Unless, of course, your only counterargument is the classic philosophical statement of "we can't know nuffin".
  - trention 4y ago
    Logical fallacies don't necessarily equal stupidity though sometimes they do. A bunch of arguments about why AI would be bad have already been advanced. For the economic one, refer to Martin Ford. For the existential one, refer to Bostrom.