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God Is Dead So They Are Building a New One
- NemoNobody 3y agoDone correctly, we have the opportunity to create something that can answer any questions we have, provide solutions to problems that we cannot and manage for us essentially all of the tedious and monotonous aspects of life. How isn't that what we ought to do? We will have so much more time to be human in a world ran by AI. A humanity free from bullshit is a humanity truly capable of anything.
- pstuart 3y agoIf it worked like that, then sure, why not. In watching the internet come into being and become what it is today, I assume that it will be abused and misused significantly. The idea of weaponizing misinformation wasn't on my bingo card, so I'm much more cynical now.
- joewhale 3y agoDo you honestly think more technology is the answer? Look at how far we’ve come with technology and how happy we really are as individuals.
- speedylight 3y agoWhether it’s the answer or not, technology will never not evolve; I find its best to learn to work with it and not against it.
- NewsyHacker 3y ago> technology will never not evolve It is certainly possible that humanity meets some obstacle short of AGI, or civilization collapses to the point that no further technological development is possible.
- kibwen 3y agoTechnology will always evolve, but it might evolve back to knapping flint and starting fires with sticks.
- xg15 3y agoStuff like that makes me gain sympathy for the luddites. Wasn't the purpose of technology always to solve human problems? This is more akin to seeing technology as some sort of mystical independent force that we have to obey and be glad if it occasionally solves problems. The former is making a fire to heat your home, the latter is the mindset of a pyromaniac.
- libraryatnight 3y agoI feel like I've been in some dark places with technology and at present am in a pretty good place with it, personally anyway. But, societies move slower than people and there's always the chance the rock bottom that teaches you the lesson kills you, so it's not necessarily a rosy outcome - but I don't know how we pump the breaks at this point. We also have an extraordinary amount of greed gremlins acting in bad faith out there that make it difficult to do things.
- poisonborz 3y agoHappiness is relative but we are more healthy, live longer, have better tools, are generally more free as citizens, vastly more so if you have a disability or are old.
- hotpotamus 3y agoAmericans are not healthier; they are more obese and are losing life expectancy.
- harimau777 3y agoThe number of people who own their own homes is going down. The number of unmarried people is going up. It's hard to measure, but it feels like people are more micromanaged and have less autonomy in their jobs. Are we really more free?
- tomjen3 3y agoI am alive because of technology, so every time I laugh it’s technically because of technology. Besides what makes me unhappy is frequently people not technology.
- bugglebeetle 3y ago> Done correctly History, unfortunately, shows this rarely, if ever, to be this case. Every utopian ideal of the 20th century ended in mass murder, world war, or totalitarianism, and the more pragmatic ones (e.g. liberal democracy) are struggling desperately to survive. One only need to consider the current political state of the two most powerful countries in the world developing AI (the US and China), to not take such a Panglossian view of how it will be used.
- drbwaa 3y agoStep 1: Assume a utopia.
- AndrewKemendo 3y agoThis is the original goal of making machines and has been the assumed desire path since before even Joseph Schumpeter had anything to say about it. Keynes et al assumed that humanity would align around machines to literally eliminate human labor. Those of us that have been obsessed with AI since we were toddlers have been literally talking about this since day one Welcome to the party everyone
- kibwen 3y ago> to literally eliminate human labor In a manner of speaking, of course.
- AndrewKemendo 3y agoI mean “AI” kills people all the time The endgame in many long range cruise missiles are based on computer vision systems Here’s the tomahawk specifically: https://secwww.jhuapl.edu/techdigest/Content/techdigest/pdf/V15-N03/15-03-Irani.pdf https://secwww.jhuapl.edu/techdigest/Content/techdigest/pdf/... I personally witnessed tomahawk used extensively throughout the GWOT You just rarely hear about it
- sakopov 3y ago> A humanity free from bullshit is a humanity truly capable of anything. Ironically, AI has been feeding us more bullshit then I've ever seen. I'm excited to see what things will look like when all the AI "gurus" and prompt "engineers" get off this train and move on to some other hype.
- candiddevmike 3y agoIn theory it threatens the power structure of the world, especially as we cede control of government and administrative functions to it. An impartial, incorruptible force is terrifying to a lot of folks.
- AnimalMuppet 3y agoMore terrifying: A force that is supposed to be impartial and incorruptible, but someone finds the right lever to corrupt it. (Before you say "that can't happen", the AGI is going to run on some hardware. Someone is going to have access to that hardware. For that matter, someone is going to write the program, and supply the training data, and do the testing.)
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- haswell 3y ago> We will have so much more time to be human in a world ran by AI. What does it mean “to be human”? What will it mean to be human when the things that quintessentially make up the human condition are being handled by an AI? People talk about these rosy futures involving loads of free time waiting for us when AI takes over, but is that what anyone actually wants? Will people find purpose with all of this time to “be human”? And an AI taking over certainly does not free humanity from bullshit. At best, it frees up potential bandwidth. But we’ve been freeing humanity from “bullshit” for decades/centuries now, and as a species, we haven’t shown a tendency to use that freed time well. I’m not against advancing technology, but I don’t think we have any reason to believe in these kinds of utopian visions.
- zogrodea 3y agoThis comment reminded me of the saying that "the idle mind is the devil's workshop" (which I'm not sure about the origin of). I more frequently do things that are stupid and which I regret when I'm bored and have free time so at least this one person here relates to it.
- haswell 3y agoI suspect the origin is Proverbs 16:27 - "Idle hands are the devil's workshop; idle lips are his mouthpiece." I'm currently on a work sabbatical, and while it has been great, I reached a point when I had to start actively scheduling and doing things or I'd go a bit crazy. I think that having time to be bored is great, and really healthy for awhile. But having a core thing to return to, whatever that is, seems really critical. I'm sure humanity could adapt, but would need time to adjust to the new reality.
- jaredhallen 3y agoOne of the most fundamental aspects of being human is overcoming adversity. I don't want to live in a world that's perfect.
- dist-epoch 3y agoDon't worry, when AI comes after you you'll have all the adversity you'll ever dream of.
- zogrodea 3y ago"Man wishes concord; but Nature knows better what is good for the race; she wills discord. He wishes to live comfortably and pleasantly; Nature wills that he should be plunged from sloth and passive contentment into labor and trouble, in order that he may find means of extricating himself from them. The natural urges to this, the sources of unsociableness and mutual opposition from which so many evils arise, drive men to new exertions of their forces and thus to the manifold development of their capacities." - Immanuel Kant on how adversities often develop our skills and enhance our capacities
- mistermann 3y agoEven if a machine could generate correct answers, that's only part of the problem: humans will largely reject them.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- musicale 3y agoWell spoken, Cyber-Leader. We shall be upgraded.
- givemeethekeys 3y agoNothing gets a war going like a new god in town.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- Trasmatta 3y ago> You will have your God. And you will make Him by your own hand. Deus Ex (2000)
- gscott 3y agoThe tv show Person of Interest was great in this regard.
- sys32768 3y agoI wonder what will be the penalties for blaspheming the AI god.
- kibwen 3y agoShow HN: How I achieved 10,000,000 rosaries per second with Rust
- simmerup 3y agoThe AI god will actually be able to keep track of who’s blaspheming thanks to all the surveillance we live under. George Orwell would shake his head at how the lack of ambition Big Brother showed
- unnouinceput 3y agoDon't know how will be but I know how it is right now. Downvotes. Current god that you're not allowed to blaspheme against on HN is Rust. Try to tell Rust is just a shitty upgrade over C/C++ and you get downvoted to oblivion on HN. Watch how this comment will get downvoted as well.
- jdewerd 3y agoYeah, but this one won't be three priests standing on each others' shoulders in a trench coat.
- candiddevmike 3y agoIt'll be a team of moderators filtering through the output, making sure God doesn't say anything bad.
- qbrass 3y agoSo nothing new.
- antonvs 3y agoI was never a fan of the priests, but I’m not convinced a bunch of processors and RAM standing on each other’s shoulders in a data center, controlled by accelerationists, is going to be better.
- AndrewKemendo 3y agoThis isn’t new. What is new are all the people who are just learning about it and think they have new ideas. Meanwhile ignoring decades (centuries IMO actually) of thinking and work on it because they have not been educated on it. As a reminder, here’s the proposal for the 1956 Dartmouth Workshop on Artificial Inelligence: We propose that a 2-month, 10-man study of artificial intelligence be carried out during the summer of 1956 at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. The study is to proceed on the basis of the conjecture that every aspect of learning or any other feature of intelligence can in principle be so precisely described that a machine can be made to simulate it. An attempt will be made to find how to make machines use language, form abstractions and concepts, solve kinds of problems now reserved for humans, and improve themselves. We think that a significant advance can be made in one or more of these problems if a carefully selected group of scientists work on it together for a summer. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dartmouth_workshop https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dartmouth_workshop
- latchkey 3y ago> What is new are all the people who are just learning about it and think they have new ideas. While I really appreciate it when people like to educate when things are not actually new, I'd say leave this sort of tone checked. It doesn't help your cause at all.
- AndrewKemendo 3y agoYou’re right and I agree it’s not ideal tone. I’ll leave it for posterity but it does get frustrating. Imagine how Jurgen feels :/
- itisit 3y agoThe tone is fine, in my opinion. It’s funny because new people working on old problems without knowing they’re old problems is itself not a new phenomenon by any means.
- latchkey 3y agoRewritten without the 'tone'... Here’s the proposal for the 1956 Dartmouth Workshop on Artificial Intelligence [sic]: ...
- petermcneeley 3y agoIt makes little difference whether AGI can be controlled. That question only matters to 0.01% of humanity. The rest are replaced wholly regardless.
- adroniser 3y agoWhat do you mean be replaced wholly?
- lebean 3y agoRobots will be the ones getting stuck in traffic and buying groceries, having picnics and getting married. And we'll be dead.
- dist-epoch 3y agoThere is no need for workers if there is no work. Do you see many horses around?
- freitzkriesler2 3y agoThis is a disgusting affront to every sensibility. We made this so we're going to worship it? Atheism is more sensible and that's saying something. Edit: offended an AIist clearly.
- Centigonal 3y agohow are y'all reacting to this paywalled article? Is everyone here subscribed to this person's Substack? Are we discussing just the first part of the article?
- dougmwne 3y agoI came here looking for the full text and found none. Maybe our fellow commenters are LLMs fine tuned on pre-2023 HN comments?
- nickpsecurity 3y agoIf anything, science has proved God is alive more than anything before. Let’s look at chaos and constants alone. The universe is mostly dead. What exists degrades in all kinds of ways. Science’s best theories of creation are driven by randomness. Yet, all the Big Bang’s and chaotic systems we make produce exactly zero design. All the systems we build take effort to fight against nature to even run, degrade over time, and break down. Empirically, that’s what we should expect of the universe’s machinery. Then, we look at the universe to find it has dozens of laws and components that stay constant in form. They never fail. They’re more precise than anything humans can create. They work together in a precise way, too, with protocols that also never fail. Our human life on this planet depends on basically all of them. Empirically, they look like a designer of unimaginable knowledge and power both precisely designed them and maintains them. That’s God. From there, we look at testimony since our knowledge is mostly built on that anyway. Many claim to have heard from God. One book, the Bible, came with specific prophecies that were fulfilled (eg Israel being recreated), medical knowledge, miracles that repeat everywhere it goes (one saved me), life transformations, and answered prayers. They start when we believe in Jesus who died for our sins and rose again with more historical testimony than about anyone else. Most things need to be changed to market to their audience. The few beliefs that went global fed people’s egos (do the right works) or spread by the sword. The Gospel of Jesus Christ reached several thousand people groups in around 200 countries despite no changes in the message. It did this while saying we can’t save ourselves but only Christ can save us. So, we have a universe that looks designed, only a revelation can lead us to the designer, Christ confirmed He is by conquering death, and His Word is the most proven with the widest impact on people. God is very alive and you can know Him personally if you repent and believe in Christ. You will live forever, too.
- ShamelessC 3y agoGod isn’t real.
- freitzkriesler2 3y agoImagine denying a free gift of eternal life from an all power deity that loves you. NGMI
- xg15 3y agoYou know you went off the deep end if you don't build tech anymore for the knowledge end understanding can provide, and not even for the utility value but because you see the technology itself as an end that overrides all other goals.
- gnarlouse 3y agoI had an illuminating thought the other day. The AI race need not march further than AGI. A form of AGI is speed super intelligence, that is human intellectual capacity but better performance or cheaper energy cost. We need to treat possibility as eventuality for preparedness sake: the ultra wealthy could in theory execute a coup against the rest of humanity. They could also retreat into bunkers with suitable farming capacity, while their silicon business operations continue on. The rest of us are out of work, and if the bureaucracy gets respected out of homes. If farmland gets bought up by the ultra wealthy, the plan could be to subvert climate change by allowing billions to die. In the end, you’re going to foot the bill of aristocracy unless you rise up and demand a stake at the table or ensure the downfall of everything today. Life is in fact a giant strategy game because it can be and because it is the governing dynamic at the highest level, so play or lose.
- LargoLasskhyfv 3y ago'Stake' as in to roast the rich on a spit, and eat them? Celeb Teriyaki? Prom Tikka? Bunker Hunker BBQ?
- hakdbha 3y ago[dead]
- drtgh 3y ago“we will control the superintelligence and it will serve us.” That is not optimism, that just sounds contradictory. The only thing that could stop that immortal superintelligence from use us as lubricating oil maintainers til end of the days will be to cross fingers, and that certainly sounds religious. Perhaps could be avoided persuading such intelligence to respect an equality of rights between us, or similar. Therefore, forget about your cheap servant. Since then, to try til the end of the days to don't make doubt that intelligence about our intentions. I do not expect the artificial intelligence in this century, given the current state, nevertheless the constant pursuing for to bring it to life will success at that time. And this success will not be shown as human intelligence, it will be like if it were an alien intelligence, nevertheless such intelligence will find easy to understand us due our simplicity and that will be feed with all our patterns. I have no interest in to be there when happens. And I guess there is no stop, humanity is this stupid; even if it is prohibited will be someone experimenting for feeding egos.
- musicale 3y agoCEO: Well yes, Crapcorp is developing this great world-destroying button, but we put a "do not push" sign on it, so it's totally safe and... wait, who pushed it? Voice from beyond: I DID. CEO: Ahaha, early prototype; fortunately we built in a fail safe reset sequence if I just <disintegrates into dust>
- renegat0x0 3y agoReminds me of scenario where certain countries worked on enhancing various viruses to make them more dangerous. Naah it will be fine. We Control it.