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We can add prophetic..? >Yuval Noah Harari ... is 100% correct that [the AI class divide] is going to be the biggest problem we are going to face later down th

We can add prophetic..? >Yuval Noah Harari ... is 100% correct that [the AI class divide] is going to be the biggest problem we are going to face later down the line in the 21st century and it's not going to be rosy. He and Moldbug at least. From Comments on The Superfluity of the Masses https://archive.ph/ngu66 https://archive.ph/ngu66

kerkeslager 2y ago
It's a bit early to call that prophetic, no? I mean, we're facing the possibility of a second cold war which, as with the first, could result in nuclear holocaust. Certainly global pandemics and global warming have both been bigger problems than AI so far and have the potential to continue. I'd also bring up neofascism--but this is HN, so I'm sure some neofascist will object. I get very skeptical when people make superlative claims like "100%" and "biggest" about large, complicated things like "problems we are going to face later down the line in the 21st century". The largest effects of AI at this point are that a lot of AI creators are getting rich and a preponderance of easy fraud--I'm not sure any of the underwhelming uses of AI have yet proven themselves enough to make users of AI a privileged class.
- gsf_emergency 2y ago
  Yes! Sneer and smarm is 100% a challenge to balance here on HN, seems like I barely got by! Frankly i'd hoped someone would look at the other comments there, e.g. "Donald": https://nicholasdecker.substack.com/p/the-superfluity-of-the-masses/comment/80971742 https://nicholasdecker.substack.com/p/the-superfluity-of-the... I don't agree with it all, but what he has going is a preference for first-order thinking: helping out the poor smart kids NOW, over lowering taxes so that entreprise will not be disincentivized (pardon the econspeak!) [You might also be entertained by the historiography from "Anirudh"] The thing NOT to learn from Sweden is how to award prizes. Certainly, the Fields Institute in Ontario (where Hinton built his career, btw) have their priorities at a more reasonable tilt vs Stockholm when it comes to building the future vs trying not to miss out on a piece of it.

kerkeslager 2y ago

It's a bit early to call that prophetic, no? I mean, we're facing the possibility of a second cold war which, as with the first, could result in nuclear holocaust. Certainly global pandemics and global warming have both been bigger problems than AI so far and have the potential to continue. I'd also bring up neofascism--but this is HN, so I'm sure some neofascist will object. I get very skeptical when people make superlative claims like "100%" and "biggest" about large, complicated things like "problems we are going to face later down the line in the 21st century". The largest effects of AI at this point are that a lot of AI creators are getting rich and a preponderance of easy fraud--I'm not sure any of the underwhelming uses of AI have yet proven themselves enough to make users of AI a privileged class.

gsf_emergency 2y ago
Yes! Sneer and smarm is 100% a challenge to balance here on HN, seems like I barely got by! Frankly i'd hoped someone would look at the other comments there, e.g. "Donald": https://nicholasdecker.substack.com/p/the-superfluity-of-the-masses/comment/80971742 https://nicholasdecker.substack.com/p/the-superfluity-of-the... I don't agree with it all, but what he has going is a preference for first-order thinking: helping out the poor smart kids NOW, over lowering taxes so that entreprise will not be disincentivized (pardon the econspeak!) [You might also be entertained by the historiography from "Anirudh"] The thing NOT to learn from Sweden is how to award prizes. Certainly, the Fields Institute in Ontario (where Hinton built his career, btw) have their priorities at a more reasonable tilt vs Stockholm when it comes to building the future vs trying not to miss out on a piece of it.