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The strangest thing about AI is that a lot of it's value comes from the fact that it's better at using the tools that we designed for humans than we are. It's e

The strangest thing about AI is that a lot of it's value comes from the fact that it's better at using the tools that we designed for humans than we are. It's essentially an admission of failure. I'm not sure what conclusions to draw from this observation however.

hsuduebc2 3y ago
Every time I need to use google to change settings in app like facebook I constantly wonder about that. Where is my ai assistant when I'm just gonna tell him what I want? Why do I need to end on Reddit through Google when random internet user answers me how to change even the things that should be the most obvious to find?
joshspankit 3y ago
> is so broken I would argue that it’s not that we’re bad at using tools that we designed for humans, but more that multiple shifts in the tech world over the last 50 years have intentionally (and unintentionally) broken those tools. AI does not need to use the tools at all, it knows the knowledge that the tools gate-keep and it can write code that does the data manipulation that underlies the most powerful software. It essentially side-steps the whole mess that is the current tech industry (and to be honest a bunch of other industries).
ssnistfajen 3y ago
Automated programs are not limited by stamina, attention span, sleep cycles, etc. so I don't think AIs being better at something is necessarily an indicator of failure for humans. Dogs were used to rotate roasting spits in Britain during the Early Modern era: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turnspit_dog https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turnspit_dog Does this mean humans were inferior to dogs at the task? Absolutely not. It was just a more efficient alternative based on what was available to them at that point in time.
yreg 3y ago
> It's essentially an admission of failure. I think that was always the dream, even in early 20th century sci-fi. It's not a failure, it is a success. However, in my opinion it's interesting that the dreamers underestimated the difficulty of robotics. Almost everyone thought that the manual jobs will be the first ones to be replaced. Right now it seems the other way around.

hsuduebc2 3y ago

Every time I need to use google to change settings in app like facebook I constantly wonder about that. Where is my ai assistant when I'm just gonna tell him what I want? Why do I need to end on Reddit through Google when random internet user answers me how to change even the things that should be the most obvious to find?

joshspankit 3y ago

> is so broken I would argue that it’s not that we’re bad at using tools that we designed for humans, but more that multiple shifts in the tech world over the last 50 years have intentionally (and unintentionally) broken those tools. AI does not need to use the tools at all, it knows the knowledge that the tools gate-keep and it can write code that does the data manipulation that underlies the most powerful software. It essentially side-steps the whole mess that is the current tech industry (and to be honest a bunch of other industries).

ssnistfajen 3y ago

Automated programs are not limited by stamina, attention span, sleep cycles, etc. so I don't think AIs being better at something is necessarily an indicator of failure for humans. Dogs were used to rotate roasting spits in Britain during the Early Modern era: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turnspit_dog https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turnspit_dog Does this mean humans were inferior to dogs at the task? Absolutely not. It was just a more efficient alternative based on what was available to them at that point in time.

yreg 3y ago

> It's essentially an admission of failure. I think that was always the dream, even in early 20th century sci-fi. It's not a failure, it is a success. However, in my opinion it's interesting that the dreamers underestimated the difficulty of robotics. Almost everyone thought that the manual jobs will be the first ones to be replaced. Right now it seems the other way around.