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My whole job is generative AI research at this point, so I am obviously biased. And yes there were quite a number of technical points that fall flat for me, lik

My whole job is generative AI research at this point, so I am obviously biased. And yes there were quite a number of technical points that fall flat for me, like the stuff about hidden layers, the comparison with photography (you can color grade AI art in Photoshop too), the usual "no understanding because it just outputs the next word" argument, the time wasted by focusing on short-term technical limitations, etc. But despite all that I was very compelled by the discussion of how AI tech is primarily being used to further squeeze everything enjoyable out human life and maximize corporate profits. It helps put words to my growing dissatisfaction with how my field is being monetized. And it isn't enough to say that people will keep doing enjoyable stuff as a hobby. I made a career out of doing creative programming work that I love, and will really struggle to sleep at night if I help to take that opportunity away from someone else.

ds42 3y ago
I mean, sure, but that's not to be blamed on ML-anything. It's explicitly the human problem, because against all odds, it turns out that we have been the paperclip optimizers all along. Yeah, it can go awry, but so far I don't see the problem. And while I appreciate that certain people will actually suffer for the fact that they get rationalized away, I'd rather superfluous workers get to live on a hypothetical monthly allowance (huh, wonder if we will get THAT right) and do whatever than not allow, say, quadriplegics and the other many disabled people around us to finally tap into their creativity and churn out art, speech, even experience a motor-sensory immediacy they have long ago lost any appreciation for. The benefits so massively, so drastically outweigh the negatives, starting with more fulfilling artistic creation (at any granularity you want, people pretend like it's only text-to-picture or nothing at all, which is such a silly misunderstanding of what we will enable ourselves to do), round-the-clock therapy, tutoring, mindfulness instruction and help... you name it. Some foul fields and workplaces (yeah, it's not the AI revolution, it's all of humanity and their history with being pricks towards humanity itself that is "rotten to the core") will have to be demolished and cauterized before it can get better, but it's going to still be an overwhelming net positive. Of course, that is if it/we manage to actually amputate the gangrenous limbs of capitalism and bad incentives, bad workplace culture, atrocious treatment of fellow humans - just name it, chances are we have been doing it so, so very wrong. I reserve skepticism, it's a huge gamble regardless. But just in case people are wondering, we're already beyond the point where this is just merely handy, at this stage, a Hail Mary is pretty much our only option... and there won't be another one like this here "rotten" ML-revolution.

ds42 3y ago

I mean, sure, but that's not to be blamed on ML-anything. It's explicitly the human problem, because against all odds, it turns out that we have been the paperclip optimizers all along. Yeah, it can go awry, but so far I don't see the problem. And while I appreciate that certain people will actually suffer for the fact that they get rationalized away, I'd rather superfluous workers get to live on a hypothetical monthly allowance (huh, wonder if we will get THAT right) and do whatever than not allow, say, quadriplegics and the other many disabled people around us to finally tap into their creativity and churn out art, speech, even experience a motor-sensory immediacy they have long ago lost any appreciation for. The benefits so massively, so drastically outweigh the negatives, starting with more fulfilling artistic creation (at any granularity you want, people pretend like it's only text-to-picture or nothing at all, which is such a silly misunderstanding of what we will enable ourselves to do), round-the-clock therapy, tutoring, mindfulness instruction and help... you name it. Some foul fields and workplaces (yeah, it's not the AI revolution, it's all of humanity and their history with being pricks towards humanity itself that is "rotten to the core") will have to be demolished and cauterized before it can get better, but it's going to still be an overwhelming net positive. Of course, that is if it/we manage to actually amputate the gangrenous limbs of capitalism and bad incentives, bad workplace culture, atrocious treatment of fellow humans - just name it, chances are we have been doing it so, so very wrong. I reserve skepticism, it's a huge gamble regardless. But just in case people are wondering, we're already beyond the point where this is just merely handy, at this stage, a Hail Mary is pretty much our only option... and there won't be another one like this here "rotten" ML-revolution.