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Done 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 u

Done 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 ago
If 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 ago
Do 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 ago
  Whether 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 ago
      Technology will always evolve, but it might evolve back to knapping flint and starting fires with sticks.
  - xg15 3y ago
    Stuff 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 ago
  I 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 ago
  Happiness 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 ago
    Americans are not healthier; they are more obese and are losing life expectancy.
  - harimau777 3y ago
    The 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 ago
  I 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 ago
  Step 1: Assume a utopia.
AndrewKemendo 3y ago
This 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 ago
    I 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 ago
In 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 ago
  More 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 ago
  This 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 ago
    I 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 ago
One 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 ago
  Don'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 ago
Even 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 ago
Well spoken, Cyber-Leader. We shall be upgraded.

pstuart 3y ago

If 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 ago

Do 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 ago
Whether 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 ago
    Technology will always evolve, but it might evolve back to knapping flint and starting fires with sticks.
- xg15 3y ago
  Stuff 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 ago
I 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 ago
Happiness 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 ago
  Americans are not healthier; they are more obese and are losing life expectancy.
- harimau777 3y ago
  The 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 ago
I 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 ago
Step 1: Assume a utopia.

AndrewKemendo 3y ago

This 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 ago
  I 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 ago

In 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 ago
More 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 ago
This 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 ago
  I 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 ago

One 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 ago
Don'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 ago

Even 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 ago

Well spoken, Cyber-Leader. We shall be upgraded.