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unfortunately? AI/GPT will a bigger positive affect on humankind than Crypto ever has.

vanviegen 4y ago
While I can see the utility for individual people/companies, I find it hard to imagine how GPT-generated drab (for lack of more neutral wording) will be a net positive for society. We're already thoroughly overwhelmed by mediocre content, without the machines helping out to produce orders of magnitude more. Still, I prefer it to crypto, I think. :-)
gorjusborg 4y ago
I'm less optimistic on that front. I think there is a lot of potential for positive effects coming from ML, but I'm not so sure that the potential negative effects are less likely and/or lesser in magnitude than the positives. I think I would be more optimistic if I hadn't witnessed the internet go from a bastion of hope for mankind to a smoldering heap of attention robbing waste. The two are similar in that it isn't the technology, it is how we utilize it that determines whether the outcome is good. One particularly concerning aspect of ML is the lack of understanding on how the model reaches the 'correct' answer. This aspect of the technology encourages people to 'let go' and rely on the answer without understanding anything about the context. The trouble is that we embed context while training the models, so the context is there, we just can't see it once it is trained-in. It will be an interesting decade, for sure.
Mordisquitos 4y ago
I would put that thought in a different way. I absolutely agree that AI/GPT has the potential to affect humankind to a degree that is multiple orders of magnitude greater than Crypto[currency] ever has had. The reason for that difference is mostly because it is comparing a possible technological singularity event with the overhyped nothingburger that is Crypto. Now then, whether the astronomical potential effects of AI/GPT are "unfortunate" or "positive" has yet to be decided... but I myself am not at all optimistic about it.

While I can see the utility for individual people/companies, I find it hard to imagine how GPT-generated drab (for lack of more neutral wording) will be a net positive for society. We're already thoroughly overwhelmed by mediocre content, without the machines helping out to produce orders of magnitude more. Still, I prefer it to crypto, I think. :-)

gorjusborg 4y ago

I'm less optimistic on that front. I think there is a lot of potential for positive effects coming from ML, but I'm not so sure that the potential negative effects are less likely and/or lesser in magnitude than the positives. I think I would be more optimistic if I hadn't witnessed the internet go from a bastion of hope for mankind to a smoldering heap of attention robbing waste. The two are similar in that it isn't the technology, it is how we utilize it that determines whether the outcome is good. One particularly concerning aspect of ML is the lack of understanding on how the model reaches the 'correct' answer. This aspect of the technology encourages people to 'let go' and rely on the answer without understanding anything about the context. The trouble is that we embed context while training the models, so the context is there, we just can't see it once it is trained-in. It will be an interesting decade, for sure.

Mordisquitos 4y ago

I would put that thought in a different way. I absolutely agree that AI/GPT has the potential to affect humankind to a degree that is multiple orders of magnitude greater than Crypto[currency] ever has had. The reason for that difference is mostly because it is comparing a possible technological singularity event with the overhyped nothingburger that is Crypto. Now then, whether the astronomical potential effects of AI/GPT are "unfortunate" or "positive" has yet to be decided... but I myself am not at all optimistic about it.