4 ms·

This is simple moral panic backed up by nothing but gut feel.

dcchambers 4y ago
Is it? The number of teens that do things like date, have sex, drive, work, or hang out in person/go to parties has already fallen off a cliff thanks to social media.[^1] Who is to say AI won't make that trend even worse? [1]: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340562787_Students%27_Cognitive_and_Emotional_Development_during_the_Transition_from_High_School_to_Design_School https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340562787_Students%...
- mettamage 4y ago
  Hmm, the issue that I am experiencing is an economic one. It’s expensive to have children. With that said, dating can be tough too. I worked hard to get my dating skills to the level of being with someone that I want to be with (I’ve met others that tried and failed. It took 3 years of constant rejection, I learned to deal with rejection by necessity). Also, having a relationship is tough. I had two that lasted both around 4 years. Currently learning non-violent communication to become better at having a healthy fight since that’s where things always went wrong. The thing is: 50 years ago, you sort of married the first person you had a kid with and did your best to suck it up (that’s what I see around me in The Netherlands anyway). However, nowadays we want our relationships to be much nicer than “make it work, somehow”. I feel we’re more picky. I know I want a relationship that feels fulfilling, I’d rather be alone otherwise. And I think 50 years ago, people were less picky about that.
- staticman2 4y ago
  The term "social media" appears nowhere in that article.
haswell 4y ago
You might be correct that some people are panicking about this for moral reasons, but I don’t think we can conclude that’s all that is happening here, or that this is a baseless concern. Taking morals out of this, and instead focusing on human nature along with current trends, it’s not hard to imagine this having a real impact. I don’t think any of these possible downsides are a foregone conclusion, but neither should we dismiss the unpredictable impact of developments that fundamentally alter the sources of satisfaction for basic human biological drives. We already know that we’ll happily trade the future for short term satisfaction, so when something new comes onto the scene that encourages the proliferation of this behavior, we should bring curiosity, not dismissal. We’ve already observed similar phenomena in nature [0] (the bottles were eventually redesigned to protect the species), and while this doesn’t prove that humans are as susceptible as beetles, it’s worth considering the nature of unintended consequences. The term moral panic has started to lose its meaning, and caution about AI should not be conflated with unjustifiable beliefs about culturally controversial pastimes. They are orthogonal and unlike each other, and the nature of the concerns are quite different. - [0] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1440-6055.1983.tb01846.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1440-6055.1983...

Is it? The number of teens that do things like date, have sex, drive, work, or hang out in person/go to parties has already fallen off a cliff thanks to social media.[^1] Who is to say AI won't make that trend even worse? [1]: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340562787_Students%27_Cognitive_and_Emotional_Development_during_the_Transition_from_High_School_to_Design_School https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340562787_Students%...

mettamage 4y ago
Hmm, the issue that I am experiencing is an economic one. It’s expensive to have children. With that said, dating can be tough too. I worked hard to get my dating skills to the level of being with someone that I want to be with (I’ve met others that tried and failed. It took 3 years of constant rejection, I learned to deal with rejection by necessity). Also, having a relationship is tough. I had two that lasted both around 4 years. Currently learning non-violent communication to become better at having a healthy fight since that’s where things always went wrong. The thing is: 50 years ago, you sort of married the first person you had a kid with and did your best to suck it up (that’s what I see around me in The Netherlands anyway). However, nowadays we want our relationships to be much nicer than “make it work, somehow”. I feel we’re more picky. I know I want a relationship that feels fulfilling, I’d rather be alone otherwise. And I think 50 years ago, people were less picky about that.
staticman2 4y ago
The term "social media" appears nowhere in that article.

haswell 4y ago

You might be correct that some people are panicking about this for moral reasons, but I don’t think we can conclude that’s all that is happening here, or that this is a baseless concern. Taking morals out of this, and instead focusing on human nature along with current trends, it’s not hard to imagine this having a real impact. I don’t think any of these possible downsides are a foregone conclusion, but neither should we dismiss the unpredictable impact of developments that fundamentally alter the sources of satisfaction for basic human biological drives. We already know that we’ll happily trade the future for short term satisfaction, so when something new comes onto the scene that encourages the proliferation of this behavior, we should bring curiosity, not dismissal. We’ve already observed similar phenomena in nature [0] (the bottles were eventually redesigned to protect the species), and while this doesn’t prove that humans are as susceptible as beetles, it’s worth considering the nature of unintended consequences. The term moral panic has started to lose its meaning, and caution about AI should not be conflated with unjustifiable beliefs about culturally controversial pastimes. They are orthogonal and unlike each other, and the nature of the concerns are quite different. - [0] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1440-6055.1983.tb01846.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1440-6055.1983...