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Gotta love people working on replacing themselves. Jokes aside, seeing an AI interacting with a computer is kind of scary. It's not just outputting text anymore

Gotta love people working on replacing themselves. Jokes aside, seeing an AI interacting with a computer is kind of scary. It's not just outputting text anymore, it's doing the full work of a human working on a computer, meaning... a ton of people

mindcrime 2y ago
Gotta love people working on replacing themselves. So here's the thing: I want the computer to replace me... with regards to things that I don't want to do, or that aren't a good use of my time (boring, repetitive, trite, tedious, etc.). BUT the caveat is, I want it to be in a context where I'm in control of the computer and own the output, etc. Now companies and other actors also want the computer to replace me, but they want to be in control and to own the output. But here's the rub: they're not going to stop trying to come up with ways to replace me and minimize my value just because I don't like it. No man can stop the tide from coming in, or something like that (insert pithy saying here?). But if you know the tide is coming, you can retreat further inland OR build a boat, or climb a pole, etc. So where I'm at with this is, the more I work on AI, the more I know about AI, the more I can use it to enhance my own value outside of the context of corporate controlled IT systems, the more I can exercise a (possibly insignificant, but maybe not) degree of control over my fate. I can try to build my own boat, or at least outrun the tide for a little while. I don't know how things are going to turn out, and there's a reason that I am not in fact joking when I crack the occasional remark about "after this conversation I'm going to run to Bass Pro Shops and pick up a few more boxes of ammo" or whatever. Maybe a cyberpunk dystopia is what awaits us all. Maybe not. I'm just going to try to make my best guess at what the possible / likely future scenarios are and take whatever actions I can now to situate myself as favorably as I can.
- squigz 2y ago
  > "after this conversation I'm going to run to Bass Pro Shops and pick up a few more boxes of ammo" or whatever. Maybe a cyberpunk dystopia is what awaits us all. I don't mean this to sound accusatory, but do you think there's at all a connection between the probability of a dystopic future and the prevalence of people betting that that's the future?
  - mindcrime 2y ago
    It's a fair question. Honestly, I don't know. Will give it some more thought.
    - squigz 2y ago
      I appreciate that. I certainly can't blame anyone for seeing the state of the world and wanting to prepare for the worst - especially those with a family - and I'm not suggesting one just ignore that reality and become hopelessly naive about the future. I just... I don't know. It's hard to see everyone preparing for the worst and not feel like it's part of the reason that reality feels so likely. I hope I'm wrong. I hope we're both wrong. :P Anyway I do appreciate your response and not just jumping to the conclusion I'm a silly optimist.
- bamboozled 2y ago
  We're all pretending we can predict what the future looks like, we can't we can't juggle that many variables. It seems the most we can imagine is the world, just as it is today, but with 1 or 2 rich guys commanding an army of AI systems to pamper them while we're all our in some baron wasteland starving and being culled by robots, at least that seems to be what's causing the anxiety. If you think about it, it's one of the simplest things you could extrapolate from "THE RISE OF AI!", but as if reality is that simple? I think it shows more about our natural tendency to think catastrophically.
  - mindcrime 2y ago
    "Hope for the best, plan for the worst."
    - bamboozled 2y ago
      There has to be a practical limit to the amount of energy we give something.
      - mindcrime 2y ago
        I don't disagree. And don't mistake me, I don't sit around spending all day worrying about the impending collapse of society, or watching repeats of Doomsday Preppers or whatever. :-) But I do spend some time thinking about possible future scenarios and trying to figure out if there are any (reasonable, for some value of "reasonable") actions I can take today to help "future me" deal with certain eventualities that might come to pass.
bamboozled 2y ago
it’s peculiar to me that our lives have become that shit and uninspiring our biggest fear is not being able to sit in front of the computer anymore. If the computer replaces me and I starve to death , well that’s tough but I’m sure as shit not going to worry about office life being preserved for eternity.
- llamaimperative 2y ago
  Their fear isn’t ”not being able to sit in front of the computer anymore.” That should help explain the peculiarity.
  - bamboozled 2y ago
    So what is the fear then? I truly think a lot of people think their purpose is to be some type of processing unit for the economic machine and if that's taken away, they'll just dissolve into some type of depressive goop.
    - rbuck 2y ago
      I would guess its job loss, which subsequently covers food, shelter, those needs for their dependents, etc.
      - bamboozled 2y ago
        It will change pretty fast is everyone loses their job. We've created this reality honestly. We've had the technology for a very long time to easily provide food, clothing and shelter for everyone probably 10x over. It just doesn't happen because > 50% of people are doing ok. In other words, we mostly play the game that suits us.
        OccamsMirror 2y ago
        It's not going to be pretty fast. It will be gradual. 0.5% employment loss this year. 1% loss the next year. 1.2% the year after. Ten years later the middle class is almost non-existent. Unemployment is 25% and pundits are calling it "the new normal". You and your wife and your two kids now live with her parents. You share a three bedroom in the suburbs. Every morning you both leave early to stand amongst fifty others outside the local Amazon Mechanical Turk offices. Once a software developer with a thriving career, you're now just another face in the crowd, hoping for a day's work training AI — your deep knowledge reduced to manual inputs for algorithms you once could have designed. The daily scramble for work, even with your computer science degree, has become a grim routine. The young woman with the tablet doesn’t even meet your eyes as she checks you in. "You're training AI for advanced behavioral prediction in smart home systems." Your wife misses out. Her PHD in physics is no help. There's still some good jobs out there, but the supply vastly outstrips demand. Your kids witness the daily tension and uncertainty that you and your wife face, the scramble for sporadic employment, the diminishing returns on your education and experience. This environment is their new normal; they adapt, but at a cost. The stress and instability shape their expectations from life, narrowing their dreams to mere thoughts of making it through each day. They have no idea how great the 90s truly were. This generational shift means that the skills, values, and aspirations that once propelled the middle class are forgotten or dismissed as irrelevant. As the middle class dissolved under the relentless march of AI and automation, the notion of Universal Basic Income (UBI) was quickly dismissed as "unrealistic" and "impossible" by policymakers. Tax rates for the capital-rich continued to plummet, entrenching wealth in the hands of a few. This stark contradiction highlighted a society deeply invested in maintaining the status quo, prioritizing wealth accumulation at the top while the concept of a basic, stabilizing income for the displaced masses easily cast aside as an unfeasible dream. This grim future is not merely possible but an impending reality on our current trajectory, where technological advancements are harnessed to consolidate wealth at the top, and equitable solutions like UBI are dismissed as fantasies. The future promises a deepening divide and escalating societal strife. The idea of a sudden, dramatic loss of jobs sparking immediate and widespread unrest underestimates the more insidious nature of technological displacement. This process is neither swift nor explosive; rather, it unfolds gradually, almost imperceptibly, eroding job security and living standards slowly over years. By the time the consequences fully manifest (soaring unemployment and entrenched wealth inequality) it feels too late to act.

mindcrime 2y ago

Gotta love people working on replacing themselves. So here's the thing: I want the computer to replace me... with regards to things that I don't want to do, or that aren't a good use of my time (boring, repetitive, trite, tedious, etc.). BUT the caveat is, I want it to be in a context where I'm in control of the computer and own the output, etc. Now companies and other actors also want the computer to replace me, but they want to be in control and to own the output. But here's the rub: they're not going to stop trying to come up with ways to replace me and minimize my value just because I don't like it. No man can stop the tide from coming in, or something like that (insert pithy saying here?). But if you know the tide is coming, you can retreat further inland OR build a boat, or climb a pole, etc. So where I'm at with this is, the more I work on AI, the more I know about AI, the more I can use it to enhance my own value outside of the context of corporate controlled IT systems, the more I can exercise a (possibly insignificant, but maybe not) degree of control over my fate. I can try to build my own boat, or at least outrun the tide for a little while. I don't know how things are going to turn out, and there's a reason that I am not in fact joking when I crack the occasional remark about "after this conversation I'm going to run to Bass Pro Shops and pick up a few more boxes of ammo" or whatever. Maybe a cyberpunk dystopia is what awaits us all. Maybe not. I'm just going to try to make my best guess at what the possible / likely future scenarios are and take whatever actions I can now to situate myself as favorably as I can.

squigz 2y ago
> "after this conversation I'm going to run to Bass Pro Shops and pick up a few more boxes of ammo" or whatever. Maybe a cyberpunk dystopia is what awaits us all. I don't mean this to sound accusatory, but do you think there's at all a connection between the probability of a dystopic future and the prevalence of people betting that that's the future?
- mindcrime 2y ago
  It's a fair question. Honestly, I don't know. Will give it some more thought.
  - squigz 2y ago
    I appreciate that. I certainly can't blame anyone for seeing the state of the world and wanting to prepare for the worst - especially those with a family - and I'm not suggesting one just ignore that reality and become hopelessly naive about the future. I just... I don't know. It's hard to see everyone preparing for the worst and not feel like it's part of the reason that reality feels so likely. I hope I'm wrong. I hope we're both wrong. :P Anyway I do appreciate your response and not just jumping to the conclusion I'm a silly optimist.
bamboozled 2y ago
We're all pretending we can predict what the future looks like, we can't we can't juggle that many variables. It seems the most we can imagine is the world, just as it is today, but with 1 or 2 rich guys commanding an army of AI systems to pamper them while we're all our in some baron wasteland starving and being culled by robots, at least that seems to be what's causing the anxiety. If you think about it, it's one of the simplest things you could extrapolate from "THE RISE OF AI!", but as if reality is that simple? I think it shows more about our natural tendency to think catastrophically.
- mindcrime 2y ago
  "Hope for the best, plan for the worst."
  - bamboozled 2y ago
    There has to be a practical limit to the amount of energy we give something.
    - mindcrime 2y ago
      I don't disagree. And don't mistake me, I don't sit around spending all day worrying about the impending collapse of society, or watching repeats of Doomsday Preppers or whatever. :-) But I do spend some time thinking about possible future scenarios and trying to figure out if there are any (reasonable, for some value of "reasonable") actions I can take today to help "future me" deal with certain eventualities that might come to pass.

bamboozled 2y ago

it’s peculiar to me that our lives have become that shit and uninspiring our biggest fear is not being able to sit in front of the computer anymore. If the computer replaces me and I starve to death , well that’s tough but I’m sure as shit not going to worry about office life being preserved for eternity.

llamaimperative 2y ago
Their fear isn’t ”not being able to sit in front of the computer anymore.” That should help explain the peculiarity.
- bamboozled 2y ago
  So what is the fear then? I truly think a lot of people think their purpose is to be some type of processing unit for the economic machine and if that's taken away, they'll just dissolve into some type of depressive goop.
  - rbuck 2y ago
    I would guess its job loss, which subsequently covers food, shelter, those needs for their dependents, etc.
    - bamboozled 2y ago
      It will change pretty fast is everyone loses their job. We've created this reality honestly. We've had the technology for a very long time to easily provide food, clothing and shelter for everyone probably 10x over. It just doesn't happen because > 50% of people are doing ok. In other words, we mostly play the game that suits us.
      - OccamsMirror 2y ago
        It's not going to be pretty fast. It will be gradual. 0.5% employment loss this year. 1% loss the next year. 1.2% the year after. Ten years later the middle class is almost non-existent. Unemployment is 25% and pundits are calling it "the new normal". You and your wife and your two kids now live with her parents. You share a three bedroom in the suburbs. Every morning you both leave early to stand amongst fifty others outside the local Amazon Mechanical Turk offices. Once a software developer with a thriving career, you're now just another face in the crowd, hoping for a day's work training AI — your deep knowledge reduced to manual inputs for algorithms you once could have designed. The daily scramble for work, even with your computer science degree, has become a grim routine. The young woman with the tablet doesn’t even meet your eyes as she checks you in. "You're training AI for advanced behavioral prediction in smart home systems." Your wife misses out. Her PHD in physics is no help. There's still some good jobs out there, but the supply vastly outstrips demand. Your kids witness the daily tension and uncertainty that you and your wife face, the scramble for sporadic employment, the diminishing returns on your education and experience. This environment is their new normal; they adapt, but at a cost. The stress and instability shape their expectations from life, narrowing their dreams to mere thoughts of making it through each day. They have no idea how great the 90s truly were. This generational shift means that the skills, values, and aspirations that once propelled the middle class are forgotten or dismissed as irrelevant. As the middle class dissolved under the relentless march of AI and automation, the notion of Universal Basic Income (UBI) was quickly dismissed as "unrealistic" and "impossible" by policymakers. Tax rates for the capital-rich continued to plummet, entrenching wealth in the hands of a few. This stark contradiction highlighted a society deeply invested in maintaining the status quo, prioritizing wealth accumulation at the top while the concept of a basic, stabilizing income for the displaced masses easily cast aside as an unfeasible dream. This grim future is not merely possible but an impending reality on our current trajectory, where technological advancements are harnessed to consolidate wealth at the top, and equitable solutions like UBI are dismissed as fantasies. The future promises a deepening divide and escalating societal strife. The idea of a sudden, dramatic loss of jobs sparking immediate and widespread unrest underestimates the more insidious nature of technological displacement. This process is neither swift nor explosive; rather, it unfolds gradually, almost imperceptibly, eroding job security and living standards slowly over years. By the time the consequences fully manifest (soaring unemployment and entrenched wealth inequality) it feels too late to act.