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Except gods and devils have never and will never exist but AI might. Although I think it incredibly unlikely that AI will ever be in a position to create a huma

by altacc 4y ago

Except gods and devils have never and will never exist but AI might. Although I think it incredibly unlikely that AI will ever be in a position to create a human exterminating Skynet totality and the discussions should be more about how humanity is affected by machine learning, as it has been by previous technological advances. The LessWrong community try to address bias but seem quite biased here by sci-fi writers.

gcr 4y ago
Christians genuinely have the faith that gods and devils exist. It's a genuine belief, they're convinced by whatever evidence they see, even though outsiders don't necessarily understand. Maybe they're not 100% there, but that's okay - they plan for this low probability but important outcome by going to church, helping their neighbor, performing outreach, converting nonbelievers, discriminating against queers and bitching about homeless people, pretending to read bible, etc. You have faith that AGI will both exist and have similar power. That's your genuine belief, you've been convinced by the evidence that you see. Maybe you're not 100% there but that's okay - you plan for this low-probability but important event by reading up on machine learning, contributing to your community discussions, studying alignment, performing outreach, converting folks who don't believe in AGI, pretending to read Norvig textbook, etc. My point is that these two beliefs are related.
- allturtles 4y ago
  Your analogy keeps getting more strained, IMO. Should we believe that unicorns and dark matter are equally plausible? Neither has been directly observed, after all. I'm not sure this line of argument is getting you anywhere. It would be more productive, I think, to directly engage with the argument and say why you think concern about AGI is implausible.
  - ElevenLathe 4y ago
    > Should we believe that unicorns and dark matter are equally plausible? Yes. > Neither has been directly observed, after all. Exactly, they are both just ideas people have that help make sense of the world as they see it.
- dwohnitmok 4y ago
  > You have faith that X. That's your genuine belief, you've been convinced by the evidence that you see. Maybe you're not 100% there but that's okay - you plan for this low-probability but important event by doing Y. Is there any low-probability but important event that doesn't follow this template?

by altacc 4y ago

gcr 4y ago

Christians genuinely have the faith that gods and devils exist. It's a genuine belief, they're convinced by whatever evidence they see, even though outsiders don't necessarily understand. Maybe they're not 100% there, but that's okay - they plan for this low probability but important outcome by going to church, helping their neighbor, performing outreach, converting nonbelievers, discriminating against queers and bitching about homeless people, pretending to read bible, etc. You have faith that AGI will both exist and have similar power. That's your genuine belief, you've been convinced by the evidence that you see. Maybe you're not 100% there but that's okay - you plan for this low-probability but important event by reading up on machine learning, contributing to your community discussions, studying alignment, performing outreach, converting folks who don't believe in AGI, pretending to read Norvig textbook, etc. My point is that these two beliefs are related.

allturtles 4y ago
Your analogy keeps getting more strained, IMO. Should we believe that unicorns and dark matter are equally plausible? Neither has been directly observed, after all. I'm not sure this line of argument is getting you anywhere. It would be more productive, I think, to directly engage with the argument and say why you think concern about AGI is implausible.
- ElevenLathe 4y ago
  > Should we believe that unicorns and dark matter are equally plausible? Yes. > Neither has been directly observed, after all. Exactly, they are both just ideas people have that help make sense of the world as they see it.
dwohnitmok 4y ago
> You have faith that X. That's your genuine belief, you've been convinced by the evidence that you see. Maybe you're not 100% there but that's okay - you plan for this low-probability but important event by doing Y. Is there any low-probability but important event that doesn't follow this template?