3 ms·

Every few years there are advancements in ML and people freak out. Remember deep fakes? We had been dealing with doctored still images a la Photoshop for years

Every few years there are advancements in ML and people freak out. Remember deep fakes? We had been dealing with doctored still images a la Photoshop for years already. Everyone knew images could be doctored and so we started to trust them less as a reliable source of information when it mattered. We'll do the same with video (and already did to an extent since manipulation through editing was already possible). What is the worst that can possibly happen as a result of AI being able to generate text that is indistinguishable from something a human wrote? Or that a "chat bot" can answer questions with more relevance and detail (correct or made up) ? That we will have more garbage information out there? I think humans already did a great job of making that a problem already. AI has the ability to produce more of it, but it's just pouring gasoline on a fire that was already blazing and that we already had to figure out how to deal with. Moral of the story: when it matters, check the source. Why does AI suddenly make this "new" ? For what it's worth, I'm not riding the hype train. I am neither excited about ChatGPT nor scared of it. It's just another day, just another tool, just another marketing hype train. My personal opinion on the matter is just "meh."

lamontcg 4y ago
There's a continuum of explosives from fireworks to nuclear weapons. There's a reason I don't worry too much about my own safety from a few of the former going off on my block. Degrees of scale do matter.
- gspencley 4y ago
  Sure, but a lot of people are afraid of fireworks and would like to ban those, too. Perspective is all I'm trying to offer.
munificent 4y ago
> Everyone knew images could be doctored and so we started to trust them less as a reliable source of information when it mattered. We'll do the same with video (and already did to an extent since manipulation through editing was already possible). I'm sorry, but you're absolutely wrong. If by "everyone", you mean your tech savvy bubble of friends that are good at critical reasoning and are well aware of what kinds of media can be easily spoofed, sure. But for every one of you, there are a thousand people who don't know anything about that and just see doctored propaganda photos (and now video and audio) on social media and believe it to be true. And those folks outvote you 1000 to 1, so even if you know the truth, you are forced to live in a world shaped by people that are already being mass manipulated. > What is the worst that can possibly happen as a result of AI being able to generate text that is indistinguishable from something a human wrote? Or that a "chat bot" can answer questions with more relevance and detail (correct or made up)? People have been catching birds for millenia. What's the worst that can happen as a result of rifles becoming cheaper and more accurate? Oh, right, the answer is the extinction of over 400 bird species including more than two-thirds of all flightless bird species. People have been catching fish for millenia. What's the worst that can possibly happen as a result of trawlers being able to catch them more efficiently? Oh, right, the answer is the complete collapse of biological ecosystems. People have been burning biologically derived oil for millenia. What's the worst that can possible happen as a result of machines that burn it to produce energy? Oh, right, massive pollution leading to millions of deaths and global climate change.
bloaf 4y ago
> What is the worst that can possibly happen as a result of AI being able to generate text that is indistinguishable from something a human wrote? Or that a "chat bot" can answer questions with more relevance and detail (correct or made up) ? Remember the holodeck in Star Trek? Everyone thinks that's cool technology and not really particularly scary. But in reality, the existence of a holodeck is an existential threat to humanity: if you can have literally any experience you want in a holodeck, there is no reason to invent/do anything else. AI text generation has a similar flavor of danger. Imagine a world in which everyone has a personalized better-than-human text-generating AI. People will have no incentive to read anything other than what it writes (why read Shakespeare when you could have Shakespeare-tailored-for-you?) People will have no incentive to broadcast their own words over those of their AI. Obviously text is a small subset of the "literally any experience" offered by a holodeck, but it is not hard to see a future in which everyone is MITM'd by text-generating AIs.
- QuiDortDine 4y ago
  > AI text generation has a similar flavor of danger. Imagine a world in which everyone has a personalized better-than-human text-generating AI. People will have no incentive to read anything other than what it writes (why read Shakespeare when you could have Shakespeare-tailored-for-you?) People will have no incentive to broadcast their own words over those of their AI. This is what I call the "Spotify fallacy", or the "goddamn AI stop trying to seduce me problem". I don't want to know what it thinks I want to hear. I want to hear what others have liked and seen, and music that resembles that, not music that resembles me. In short I want to share an experience, not jerk off intellectually, and I'm pretty sure I'm not alone. You can't share an experience that's been created just for you.
  - SoftTalker 4y ago
    Very close to my feelings. I'm not interested in AI art, music, or literature. I'm interested in what people create and share with other people.

lamontcg 4y ago

There's a continuum of explosives from fireworks to nuclear weapons. There's a reason I don't worry too much about my own safety from a few of the former going off on my block. Degrees of scale do matter.

gspencley 4y ago
Sure, but a lot of people are afraid of fireworks and would like to ban those, too. Perspective is all I'm trying to offer.

munificent 4y ago

> Everyone knew images could be doctored and so we started to trust them less as a reliable source of information when it mattered. We'll do the same with video (and already did to an extent since manipulation through editing was already possible). I'm sorry, but you're absolutely wrong. If by "everyone", you mean your tech savvy bubble of friends that are good at critical reasoning and are well aware of what kinds of media can be easily spoofed, sure. But for every one of you, there are a thousand people who don't know anything about that and just see doctored propaganda photos (and now video and audio) on social media and believe it to be true. And those folks outvote you 1000 to 1, so even if you know the truth, you are forced to live in a world shaped by people that are already being mass manipulated. > What is the worst that can possibly happen as a result of AI being able to generate text that is indistinguishable from something a human wrote? Or that a "chat bot" can answer questions with more relevance and detail (correct or made up)? People have been catching birds for millenia. What's the worst that can happen as a result of rifles becoming cheaper and more accurate? Oh, right, the answer is the extinction of over 400 bird species including more than two-thirds of all flightless bird species. People have been catching fish for millenia. What's the worst that can possibly happen as a result of trawlers being able to catch them more efficiently? Oh, right, the answer is the complete collapse of biological ecosystems. People have been burning biologically derived oil for millenia. What's the worst that can possible happen as a result of machines that burn it to produce energy? Oh, right, massive pollution leading to millions of deaths and global climate change.

bloaf 4y ago

> What is the worst that can possibly happen as a result of AI being able to generate text that is indistinguishable from something a human wrote? Or that a "chat bot" can answer questions with more relevance and detail (correct or made up) ? Remember the holodeck in Star Trek? Everyone thinks that's cool technology and not really particularly scary. But in reality, the existence of a holodeck is an existential threat to humanity: if you can have literally any experience you want in a holodeck, there is no reason to invent/do anything else. AI text generation has a similar flavor of danger. Imagine a world in which everyone has a personalized better-than-human text-generating AI. People will have no incentive to read anything other than what it writes (why read Shakespeare when you could have Shakespeare-tailored-for-you?) People will have no incentive to broadcast their own words over those of their AI. Obviously text is a small subset of the "literally any experience" offered by a holodeck, but it is not hard to see a future in which everyone is MITM'd by text-generating AIs.

QuiDortDine 4y ago
> AI text generation has a similar flavor of danger. Imagine a world in which everyone has a personalized better-than-human text-generating AI. People will have no incentive to read anything other than what it writes (why read Shakespeare when you could have Shakespeare-tailored-for-you?) People will have no incentive to broadcast their own words over those of their AI. This is what I call the "Spotify fallacy", or the "goddamn AI stop trying to seduce me problem". I don't want to know what it thinks I want to hear. I want to hear what others have liked and seen, and music that resembles that, not music that resembles me. In short I want to share an experience, not jerk off intellectually, and I'm pretty sure I'm not alone. You can't share an experience that's been created just for you.
- SoftTalker 4y ago
  Very close to my feelings. I'm not interested in AI art, music, or literature. I'm interested in what people create and share with other people.