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Some things might get micro-optimized by AI in ways that benefit people in general, but a lot will be micro-optimized to extract more profit out of customers at

by nemo 3y ago

Some things might get micro-optimized by AI in ways that benefit people in general, but a lot will be micro-optimized to extract more profit out of customers at their expense and to replace or coerce workers in various ways. People will wield AI the way people wield every technology. Some techno-optimists thought that TV, personal computers, the internet and other technologies would bring some bright enlightened future, pretty sure AI optimists will see the same results as the others.

adventured 3y ago
> Some techno-optimists thought that TV, personal computers, the internet and other technologies would bring some bright enlightened future They were right, on a case by case basis. It meant a brighter, more enlightened future for me personally. I was born in nowhere Appalachia with access to nothing. A third tier failed retail store was exciting to have access to; a McDonalds was exciting to have access to. The Web appeared like god damn magic cast down from the heavens circa 1994-1995. I had almost zero interest in computers growing up in the 1980s and early 1990s. I immediately understood what could be done with the Internet: I didn't need to ask permission, I could just immediately start creating anything I was capable of building on this new canvas; no licensing, no heavy government restrictions, no enormous bureaucratic walls to climb over: dial up and go. Go learn, go create, go chat with people from Australia or France, go meet thousands of people on WebChatBroadCasting or IRC, go become part of the Doom & Quake mod scene and learn how to program/script/design levels/whatever. I think only highly privileged people would fail to grasp how extraordinary it was, they already had access to really nice things.
- MostlyStable 3y ago
  I think it's extremely valuable to hear perspectives like this and wish they were more commonly shared. We tend to focus on the downsides/problems of a lot of new tech, which are, to be fair very real and in some cases quite serious, but we tend to forget the often very large good that these technologies can often provide as well. That doesn't mean we should just let things go willy-nilly "because they do good stuff too", but it should temper our attempts to "fix" everything, and probably make us more cautious to not throw out the baby with the bathwater when we are trying to "improve" things.
  - nemo 3y ago
    Personally I'm doing great, I've used the internet to train for jobs and have quite a nice job now, and also I've used the internet to learn about all sorts of things that have been quite fulfilling for me. Still, we should be realistic about who is benefiting and who isn't, and be realistic about the effects of technological changes on externalities like the environment, politics, workers, and the marginalized where it's the Grim Meathook Future™. https://www.jwz.org/blog/2005/09/the-grim-meathook-future/ https://www.jwz.org/blog/2005/09/the-grim-meathook-future/
savanaly 3y ago
>micro-optimized to extract more profit out of customers at their expense Why would that be a bad thing? Cases where corporation win, customers lose, are newsworthy because they're so much rarer than the mundane and taken for granted state of affairs where corporations make money by helping customers. Are your best examples of times that technological progress hurt us TV and the internet? They clearly helped a great deal, on net.

by nemo 3y ago

adventured 3y ago

> Some techno-optimists thought that TV, personal computers, the internet and other technologies would bring some bright enlightened future They were right, on a case by case basis. It meant a brighter, more enlightened future for me personally. I was born in nowhere Appalachia with access to nothing. A third tier failed retail store was exciting to have access to; a McDonalds was exciting to have access to. The Web appeared like god damn magic cast down from the heavens circa 1994-1995. I had almost zero interest in computers growing up in the 1980s and early 1990s. I immediately understood what could be done with the Internet: I didn't need to ask permission, I could just immediately start creating anything I was capable of building on this new canvas; no licensing, no heavy government restrictions, no enormous bureaucratic walls to climb over: dial up and go. Go learn, go create, go chat with people from Australia or France, go meet thousands of people on WebChatBroadCasting or IRC, go become part of the Doom & Quake mod scene and learn how to program/script/design levels/whatever. I think only highly privileged people would fail to grasp how extraordinary it was, they already had access to really nice things.

MostlyStable 3y ago
I think it's extremely valuable to hear perspectives like this and wish they were more commonly shared. We tend to focus on the downsides/problems of a lot of new tech, which are, to be fair very real and in some cases quite serious, but we tend to forget the often very large good that these technologies can often provide as well. That doesn't mean we should just let things go willy-nilly "because they do good stuff too", but it should temper our attempts to "fix" everything, and probably make us more cautious to not throw out the baby with the bathwater when we are trying to "improve" things.
- nemo 3y ago
  Personally I'm doing great, I've used the internet to train for jobs and have quite a nice job now, and also I've used the internet to learn about all sorts of things that have been quite fulfilling for me. Still, we should be realistic about who is benefiting and who isn't, and be realistic about the effects of technological changes on externalities like the environment, politics, workers, and the marginalized where it's the Grim Meathook Future™. https://www.jwz.org/blog/2005/09/the-grim-meathook-future/ https://www.jwz.org/blog/2005/09/the-grim-meathook-future/

savanaly 3y ago

>micro-optimized to extract more profit out of customers at their expense Why would that be a bad thing? Cases where corporation win, customers lose, are newsworthy because they're so much rarer than the mundane and taken for granted state of affairs where corporations make money by helping customers. Are your best examples of times that technological progress hurt us TV and the internet? They clearly helped a great deal, on net.