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What is amusing and sad to me is that we have now created so many insanely big problems through greed, and unbridled technological progress in the name of profi

What is amusing and sad to me is that we have now created so many insanely big problems through greed, and unbridled technological progress in the name of profits that we actually now need AI (which will for sure have introduce it's own problems) to get us out of the shit situation we've created. I hear this parroted all the time, "AI will save the world", well maybe, but what about thinking about what has fucked this world and tackling that instead? I know AI progress is being made but I really think it's also a fantasy to think a talking computer is going to come to our rescue. I 100% agree with you and have recently come to the conclusion that we already are the paperclip maximizers. We have turned the entire fucking ecosystem into money.

toomuchtodo 3y ago
If "AI saves the world", we should consider handing over the keys. We've been weighed, measured, and found wanting. Let someone competent drive for a bit.
- foobiekr 3y ago
  Nothing built primarily from human-generated internet content is going to be competent in the way you mean.
  - toomuchtodo 3y ago
    It's fair to, in some combination, underestimate the learning curve of AI and overestimate the competency of humans. Lots of systems in place today that behaviorally nudge humans through economic and other signal, for example. And they are just dumb lines of code. How smart is a traffic light? Exciting times ahead to understand what the concept of reasoning is. https://waitbutwhy.com/2015/01/artificial-intelligence-revolution-1.html https://waitbutwhy.com/2015/01/artificial-intelligence-revol... https://149909199.v2.pressablecdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Intelligence2-1024x836.png https://149909199.v2.pressablecdn.com/wp-content/uploads/201...
ethbr0 3y ago
Don't fully disagree, but feel a counterpoint needs to be said. > created so many insanely big problems through greed, and unbridled technological progress in the name of profits Capitalism is an allocation algorithm that scales. We haven't just created insanely big problems, we've delivered insane boosts to productivity. Capitalism's outputs in that name of progress (the things that greed and unbridled technological progress have enabled) are now necessary to deliver the current living standard we have for the number of people we're supporting on this planet. - Fertilizer-boosted and genetically-modified factory agriculture - Mass manufacturing with global supply chains - Global energy markets with worldwide distribution - International capital flows If we're talking about toppling the current system, then we have to admit that means losing its positives as well as its negatives. Reengineering isn't complete when only looking at the negatives we'd avoid and the positives we'd gain. It needs to also include the positives we'd lose and the negatives we'd incur by shifting to an alternate system. The alternatives to capitalism aren't just 'avoiding capitalism's problems' -- they've historically also been 'rampant inefficiency to the extent that it decreases standard of living.' One reason I'm bullish on carbon taxes et. al. Adjust the incentives, and then let the best allocation model we've found run to optimization under the altered constraints.
- atmavatar 3y ago
  "Yes, the planet got destroyed. But for a beautiful moment in time we created a lot of value for shareholders."
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- ChatGTP 3y ago
  I under most of what you’re saying there but if capitalism can’t provide the solution for the climate crisis it needs to go as it’s reached it’s usefulness. There is no point in maintaining a system which will destroy itself like cancer. In my opinion, it’s had its chance but it’s too slow to deal with this. This is urgent. I’d say this much. It got us to a decent place, now maybe we need to have something else replace it. Personally I think it actually is time to move into a post scarcity type world, eliminate poverty and favour open source style collaboration, sharing and communication in every possible. At least until we get the climate under control. This is giving Africa and India the renewables they need, for example.
gmerc 3y ago
We do love inventing gods to escape our responsibility

toomuchtodo 3y ago

If "AI saves the world", we should consider handing over the keys. We've been weighed, measured, and found wanting. Let someone competent drive for a bit.

foobiekr 3y ago
Nothing built primarily from human-generated internet content is going to be competent in the way you mean.
- toomuchtodo 3y ago
  It's fair to, in some combination, underestimate the learning curve of AI and overestimate the competency of humans. Lots of systems in place today that behaviorally nudge humans through economic and other signal, for example. And they are just dumb lines of code. How smart is a traffic light? Exciting times ahead to understand what the concept of reasoning is. https://waitbutwhy.com/2015/01/artificial-intelligence-revolution-1.html https://waitbutwhy.com/2015/01/artificial-intelligence-revol... https://149909199.v2.pressablecdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Intelligence2-1024x836.png https://149909199.v2.pressablecdn.com/wp-content/uploads/201...

ethbr0 3y ago

Don't fully disagree, but feel a counterpoint needs to be said. > created so many insanely big problems through greed, and unbridled technological progress in the name of profits Capitalism is an allocation algorithm that scales. We haven't just created insanely big problems, we've delivered insane boosts to productivity. Capitalism's outputs in that name of progress (the things that greed and unbridled technological progress have enabled) are now necessary to deliver the current living standard we have for the number of people we're supporting on this planet. - Fertilizer-boosted and genetically-modified factory agriculture - Mass manufacturing with global supply chains - Global energy markets with worldwide distribution - International capital flows If we're talking about toppling the current system, then we have to admit that means losing its positives as well as its negatives. Reengineering isn't complete when only looking at the negatives we'd avoid and the positives we'd gain. It needs to also include the positives we'd lose and the negatives we'd incur by shifting to an alternate system. The alternatives to capitalism aren't just 'avoiding capitalism's problems' -- they've historically also been 'rampant inefficiency to the extent that it decreases standard of living.' One reason I'm bullish on carbon taxes et. al. Adjust the incentives, and then let the best allocation model we've found run to optimization under the altered constraints.

atmavatar 3y ago
"Yes, the planet got destroyed. But for a beautiful moment in time we created a lot of value for shareholders."
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
ChatGTP 3y ago
I under most of what you’re saying there but if capitalism can’t provide the solution for the climate crisis it needs to go as it’s reached it’s usefulness. There is no point in maintaining a system which will destroy itself like cancer. In my opinion, it’s had its chance but it’s too slow to deal with this. This is urgent. I’d say this much. It got us to a decent place, now maybe we need to have something else replace it. Personally I think it actually is time to move into a post scarcity type world, eliminate poverty and favour open source style collaboration, sharing and communication in every possible. At least until we get the climate under control. This is giving Africa and India the renewables they need, for example.

gmerc 3y ago

We do love inventing gods to escape our responsibility