3 ms·

Imagine how little common knowledge there will be one or two generations down the road after people decide they no longer need general thinking skills, just as

Imagine how little common knowledge there will be one or two generations down the road after people decide they no longer need general thinking skills, just as they've already decided calculators free them from having to care about arithmetic skills.

arkh 2y ago
We don't learn directions now: we use GPS. We don't do calculations: computers do it for us. We don't accumulate knowledge: we trust Google to give us the information when needed. Everything in a small package everyone can wear all day long. We're at the second step of transhumanism.
- hyperbrainer 2y ago
  At least the first 2 are far more accurate than humans ever could be. The third, i.e. trusting others to vet and find the correct information, is the problem.
  - hhh 2y ago
    Why? We've done it for ages, most trust in Wikipedia, and before most trusted in encyclopedias. Books written by others have been used forever. We just shift where we place the trust over time.
    - hyperbrainer 2y ago
      Agreed, but google hardly gives you those results. Sponsored Ads and AI generated seo crap is hardly an encylopedia.
    - ClumsyPilot 2y ago
      I just googled ‘do I need a license to drive a power boat in UK’ I got AI answer saying ‘no’, but actually you do. If I use a calculator it will be correct. If I open encyclopaedia it will mostly be correct, because someone with a brain did at least 5 minutes of thining. We are not talking about some minor detail, AI makes colossal errors with great confidence and conviction.
      - pennaMan 2y ago
        Try that query in perplexity :) Spoilers: it gets it right and explains the nuances.
      - fullstackchris 2y ago
        But you're comparing apples to oranges anyway... a mathematical problem is vastly different than a q&a problem - which of course involves language which is anyway a lossy form of communication.
        hyperbrainer 2y ago
        that is the point. google is not Multivac
  - ben_w 2y ago
    Almost. GPS is great at knowing where you are, but directions are much much harder, and the extra difficulty is why the first version of Apple Maps was widely ridiculed. Even now, I find it's a mistake to just assume Google Maps can direct me around Berlin public transport better than my own local knowledge — sometimes it can, sometimes it can't. (But yes, a single original Pi Zero beats all humans combined at arithmetic even if all of us were at the level of the world record holder).
    - DrammBA 2y ago
      When I visit a new city I trust google maps more than I trust myself with a paper map, it even knows all public transport routes and times, and can guide me through connecting different types of public transports (e.g.: bus + train) to get to my destination quicker/cheaper, that would take me and a paper map quite a bit longer to plan.
      - ben_w 2y ago
        I trust it in new places for the same reason. After I moved here and learned the system, I realised it had on my first trip directed me through a series of unnecessary train routes for a 5 minute walk. Last summer, when trying to find a specific named cafe a friend was at, Google Maps tried to have me walk 5 minutes to the train station behind me to catch the train to the stop in front of me to walk back to… the other side of the street because I hadn't recognised the sign. It's a great tool, fantastic even, but it still doesn't beat local knowledge. And very occasionally, invisibly unless you hit the edge, the map isn't correctly joined at the nodes and you can spot the mistake even as a first time visitor.
  - arkh 2y ago
    > trusting others to vet and find the correct information, is the problem To be honest, we do for most things: I have not checked the speed of light. And I surely would not be able to implement a way to measure it from only my observations and experience.
    - hyperbrainer 2y ago
      Agreed, but google hardly gives you those results. Sponsored Ads and AI generated seo crap is hardly an encylopedia
gosub100 2y ago
It's more insidious than that. AI will be used as a liability shield/scapegoat, so will become more prevalent in the workplace. So in order to not be homeless, more people will be forced to turn their brains off.
jampekka 2y ago
Maybe not having to learn to write "properly" means more bandwidth for more general thinking? At least not having to care about arithmetic leaves more time to care about mathematics.
Cthulhu_ 2y ago
And yet, this fear is timeless; back when book printing was big, people were fearmongering that people would no longer memorize things but rely too much on books. But in hindsight it ended up becoming a force multiplier. I mean I'm skeptical about AI as well and don't like it, but I can see it becoming a force multiplier itself.
- bigstrat2003 2y ago
  > people were fearmongering that people would no longer memorize things but rely too much on books... Posters here love to bring out this argument, but I think a major weakness is that those people wound up being right. People don't memorize things any more! I don't think it's fair to hold out as an example of fears which didn't come to pass, as they very much did come to pass.
  - slidehero 2y ago
    >People don't memorize things any more .... and it made no difference.

arkh 2y ago

We don't learn directions now: we use GPS. We don't do calculations: computers do it for us. We don't accumulate knowledge: we trust Google to give us the information when needed. Everything in a small package everyone can wear all day long. We're at the second step of transhumanism.

hyperbrainer 2y ago
At least the first 2 are far more accurate than humans ever could be. The third, i.e. trusting others to vet and find the correct information, is the problem.
- hhh 2y ago
  Why? We've done it for ages, most trust in Wikipedia, and before most trusted in encyclopedias. Books written by others have been used forever. We just shift where we place the trust over time.
  - hyperbrainer 2y ago
    Agreed, but google hardly gives you those results. Sponsored Ads and AI generated seo crap is hardly an encylopedia.
  - ClumsyPilot 2y ago
    I just googled ‘do I need a license to drive a power boat in UK’ I got AI answer saying ‘no’, but actually you do. If I use a calculator it will be correct. If I open encyclopaedia it will mostly be correct, because someone with a brain did at least 5 minutes of thining. We are not talking about some minor detail, AI makes colossal errors with great confidence and conviction.
    - pennaMan 2y ago
      Try that query in perplexity :) Spoilers: it gets it right and explains the nuances.
    - fullstackchris 2y ago
      But you're comparing apples to oranges anyway... a mathematical problem is vastly different than a q&a problem - which of course involves language which is anyway a lossy form of communication.
      - hyperbrainer 2y ago
        that is the point. google is not Multivac
- ben_w 2y ago
  Almost. GPS is great at knowing where you are, but directions are much much harder, and the extra difficulty is why the first version of Apple Maps was widely ridiculed. Even now, I find it's a mistake to just assume Google Maps can direct me around Berlin public transport better than my own local knowledge — sometimes it can, sometimes it can't. (But yes, a single original Pi Zero beats all humans combined at arithmetic even if all of us were at the level of the world record holder).
  - DrammBA 2y ago
    When I visit a new city I trust google maps more than I trust myself with a paper map, it even knows all public transport routes and times, and can guide me through connecting different types of public transports (e.g.: bus + train) to get to my destination quicker/cheaper, that would take me and a paper map quite a bit longer to plan.
    - ben_w 2y ago
      I trust it in new places for the same reason. After I moved here and learned the system, I realised it had on my first trip directed me through a series of unnecessary train routes for a 5 minute walk. Last summer, when trying to find a specific named cafe a friend was at, Google Maps tried to have me walk 5 minutes to the train station behind me to catch the train to the stop in front of me to walk back to… the other side of the street because I hadn't recognised the sign. It's a great tool, fantastic even, but it still doesn't beat local knowledge. And very occasionally, invisibly unless you hit the edge, the map isn't correctly joined at the nodes and you can spot the mistake even as a first time visitor.
- arkh 2y ago
  > trusting others to vet and find the correct information, is the problem To be honest, we do for most things: I have not checked the speed of light. And I surely would not be able to implement a way to measure it from only my observations and experience.
  - hyperbrainer 2y ago
    Agreed, but google hardly gives you those results. Sponsored Ads and AI generated seo crap is hardly an encylopedia

gosub100 2y ago

It's more insidious than that. AI will be used as a liability shield/scapegoat, so will become more prevalent in the workplace. So in order to not be homeless, more people will be forced to turn their brains off.

jampekka 2y ago

Maybe not having to learn to write "properly" means more bandwidth for more general thinking? At least not having to care about arithmetic leaves more time to care about mathematics.

Cthulhu_ 2y ago

And yet, this fear is timeless; back when book printing was big, people were fearmongering that people would no longer memorize things but rely too much on books. But in hindsight it ended up becoming a force multiplier. I mean I'm skeptical about AI as well and don't like it, but I can see it becoming a force multiplier itself.

bigstrat2003 2y ago
> people were fearmongering that people would no longer memorize things but rely too much on books... Posters here love to bring out this argument, but I think a major weakness is that those people wound up being right. People don't memorize things any more! I don't think it's fair to hold out as an example of fears which didn't come to pass, as they very much did come to pass.
- slidehero 2y ago
  >People don't memorize things any more .... and it made no difference.