3 ms·

It feels like the fear of the all powerful AI is giving the space way too much credit. In the same way that register-free Amazon Go stores and driverless cars w

by boh 4y ago

It feels like the fear of the all powerful AI is giving the space way too much credit. In the same way that register-free Amazon Go stores and driverless cars were supposedly destroying working-class jobs, the rogue AI gives a false narrative of tech's endless capacity to innovate and disrupt without accounting for the pretty obvious limitations, unreasonable costs and overall lack of value. At this point the tech sector has shown its limits and they're pretty considerable. In a higher interest environment that is likely to be lasting, the ability to sell people on "potential" is waning. This article feels as important as hearing someone argue that maybe we shouldn't move to our moon colonies that we will build one day in the future. I guess it's a fun debate but not really necessary.

gptgpp 4y ago
I both agree and disagree. On one hand, yeah, people dramatically overstate the capabilities of AI. I think we made a terrible divergence when we started even using the term "AI" in favor of "machine learning." On the other hand, the examples given on this page: https://betterwithout.ai/AI-already-at-war https://betterwithout.ai/AI-already-at-war Are pretty accurate descriptions of capabilities within the space, lots of real examples there. It's genuinely not hard to imagine in a few decades they might actually pose a "medium-level apocalyptic threat" as the author puts it. Arguably their present-day use is already disruptive to societal norms. Easy to imagine it getting out of hand. edit: Like the recommender engines example that they give are pretty terrible currently. But they ARE getting better. Lately my partner and I have been able to tell each other's personal search history by the ads we've been getting on our Apple TV. The topics have been some very sensitive and specific health issues even, that you wouldn't get served ads for by chance.

by boh 4y ago

gptgpp 4y ago

I both agree and disagree. On one hand, yeah, people dramatically overstate the capabilities of AI. I think we made a terrible divergence when we started even using the term "AI" in favor of "machine learning." On the other hand, the examples given on this page: https://betterwithout.ai/AI-already-at-war https://betterwithout.ai/AI-already-at-war Are pretty accurate descriptions of capabilities within the space, lots of real examples there. It's genuinely not hard to imagine in a few decades they might actually pose a "medium-level apocalyptic threat" as the author puts it. Arguably their present-day use is already disruptive to societal norms. Easy to imagine it getting out of hand. edit: Like the recommender engines example that they give are pretty terrible currently. But they ARE getting better. Lately my partner and I have been able to tell each other's personal search history by the ads we've been getting on our Apple TV. The topics have been some very sensitive and specific health issues even, that you wouldn't get served ads for by chance.