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The issue isn't AI. It is that we went from a mentality of "How can $NEWTECH improve the lives of millions and make earth an utopia?" to "How can I use $NEWTECH

by atoav 2y ago

The issue isn't AI. It is that we went from a mentality of "How can $NEWTECH improve the lives of millions and make earth an utopia?" to "How can I use $NEWTECH to sell people a thing they don't need, lock them in and become meta in the market so I can please the shareholders?". And there is a whole caste of people in the latter camp who all pat each others backs and believe they are the absolute elite, with all kind of self-lies why what they do is actually good. Of course capitalism always had people like these, but what feels new is how they celebrate themselves as saviors while being anything but. And the worst thing is that this often isn't some mask, they truly believe that. Capitalism gives them all the excuses to take character traits that in any good functioning society would mark them as social outcasts and pretend they are strengths.

thrance 2y ago
The robber barons of the gilded age had the same beliefs in their innate superiority, and thought they were the ones pushing humanity forward, in spite of the "stupid masses". All the while paying private militia to shoot at striking workers. So no, sadly this is not new. I'd even say things have gotten somewhat better.
rsynnott 2y ago
I'm not sure this is new; it's easy to forget (there's a success bias in what people end up remembering; people remember the iPhone, but not, like, Windows for Pen Computing), but the tech industry has been trying to fob all manner of bullshit off on the general public for decades. Most of the exhibits at CES fall into that category. I think maybe what _is_ new is the _scale_ of the efforts; we start to see this with blockchain stuff about a decade ago, where really quite significant amounts were spent by major players before quietly giving up, then a step up with 'metaverses' (where amounts spent get into the tens of billions), and now LLMs. Actually, maybe the real inflection point was 3D TVs, about 15 years ago; there was quite a big push and many industry participants damaged themselves quite badly on it. Amazon Alexa-type things are another possible example.

by atoav 2y ago

thrance 2y ago

The robber barons of the gilded age had the same beliefs in their innate superiority, and thought they were the ones pushing humanity forward, in spite of the "stupid masses". All the while paying private militia to shoot at striking workers. So no, sadly this is not new. I'd even say things have gotten somewhat better.

rsynnott 2y ago

I'm not sure this is new; it's easy to forget (there's a success bias in what people end up remembering; people remember the iPhone, but not, like, Windows for Pen Computing), but the tech industry has been trying to fob all manner of bullshit off on the general public for decades. Most of the exhibits at CES fall into that category. I think maybe what _is_ new is the _scale_ of the efforts; we start to see this with blockchain stuff about a decade ago, where really quite significant amounts were spent by major players before quietly giving up, then a step up with 'metaverses' (where amounts spent get into the tens of billions), and now LLMs. Actually, maybe the real inflection point was 3D TVs, about 15 years ago; there was quite a big push and many industry participants damaged themselves quite badly on it. Amazon Alexa-type things are another possible example.