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I think these are the least insightful comments I’ve seen on HN, maybe ever. Hating from the sidelines is easy. AGI (or whatever semantics you prefer) is simul

I think these are the least insightful comments I’ve seen on HN, maybe ever. Hating from the sidelines is easy. AGI (or whatever semantics you prefer) is simultaneously: 1: One of the most positively influential technologies developed in human history 2: Magnifies the failures of our current governance structures 1,000 fold. Adaptation is/will be required, and it’s not going to be easy. But the finish line promises a significantly better future for (potentially) all. Sitting here arguing semantics, complaining about technological evolution (surface level insights, I suggest going a level deeper), or making weird anti-altman statements instead of anything substantive is, well, not interesting.

minimaxir 2y ago
> But the finish line promises a significantly better future The entire reason that people are hating from the sidelines is because there's no clear finish line. "Just wait for AGI" is as unsubstantial as the comments you are criticizing.
- hahahacorn 2y ago
  The proverbial finish line. I don’t think anyone seriously views technological developments as having ultra clear cut start and finish lines. Engineering/technological innovation is an iterative process and we have steps that provide value and capture value to then generate and provide more value to capture and so on and so forth. I don’t think having a universal agreement of what AGI is matters, like at all.
Arainach 2y ago
>But the finish line promises a significantly better future for (potentially) all Citation very much needed. Maybe better for the ultrarich owners, but for the billions out of work trying to find how they're going to get food and healthcare? No. >Adaptation is/will be required, and it’s not going to be easy. "Some of you may have to die, and that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make" [1] [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiKuxfcSrEU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiKuxfcSrEU
- hahahacorn 2y ago
  Sounds like you have an issue with our current governance structures which allows too much value capture to proceed to the ultra wealthy untaxed, despite them relying on the society supported by said taxes to generate their massive wealth. This will be true whether you’re for/against AGI development. You’re not solving the underlying problem, you’re just kicking the bucket down the road for others to deal with.
  - Arainach 2y ago
    AI technology is dramatically accelerating these trends and enabling new ways and is itself a problem. There is a common trope of claiming technology isn't a problem that simply isn't true. Cheap and available technology absolutely changes models. In the 1960s the Stasi could pay a bunch of people to monitor cameras and microphones but it was incredibly expensive. Cheap cameras, cheap hard drives to store footage indefinitely, and cheap image/voice recognition all enable new horrifying forms of control, surveillance, and punishment even if the actual capability to watch people is not new.
    - hahahacorn 2y ago
      I literally have no idea what we disagree on? We're saying the exact same thing. I'm just saying that cameras were always going to become cheap. So were hard drives, and image/voice recognition. This was always going to happen, and always will happen, because it is a net good thing overall. However, it also exposes new means of exploitation that were did not exist before. AKA, technology solves two problems, and creates a brand new one. It is futile (and dare I say useless) to cry fowl that technological innovation is happening. Instead, we should be revisiting our existing governance structures and remodel them according to the new reality we live in. You're arguing against things I didn't say at all. You should re-read my initial comment and try to not project <groupsay> onto it.

minimaxir 2y ago

> But the finish line promises a significantly better future The entire reason that people are hating from the sidelines is because there's no clear finish line. "Just wait for AGI" is as unsubstantial as the comments you are criticizing.

hahahacorn 2y ago
The proverbial finish line. I don’t think anyone seriously views technological developments as having ultra clear cut start and finish lines. Engineering/technological innovation is an iterative process and we have steps that provide value and capture value to then generate and provide more value to capture and so on and so forth. I don’t think having a universal agreement of what AGI is matters, like at all.

Arainach 2y ago

>But the finish line promises a significantly better future for (potentially) all Citation very much needed. Maybe better for the ultrarich owners, but for the billions out of work trying to find how they're going to get food and healthcare? No. >Adaptation is/will be required, and it’s not going to be easy. "Some of you may have to die, and that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make" [1] [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiKuxfcSrEU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiKuxfcSrEU

hahahacorn 2y ago
Sounds like you have an issue with our current governance structures which allows too much value capture to proceed to the ultra wealthy untaxed, despite them relying on the society supported by said taxes to generate their massive wealth. This will be true whether you’re for/against AGI development. You’re not solving the underlying problem, you’re just kicking the bucket down the road for others to deal with.
- Arainach 2y ago
  AI technology is dramatically accelerating these trends and enabling new ways and is itself a problem. There is a common trope of claiming technology isn't a problem that simply isn't true. Cheap and available technology absolutely changes models. In the 1960s the Stasi could pay a bunch of people to monitor cameras and microphones but it was incredibly expensive. Cheap cameras, cheap hard drives to store footage indefinitely, and cheap image/voice recognition all enable new horrifying forms of control, surveillance, and punishment even if the actual capability to watch people is not new.
  - hahahacorn 2y ago
    I literally have no idea what we disagree on? We're saying the exact same thing. I'm just saying that cameras were always going to become cheap. So were hard drives, and image/voice recognition. This was always going to happen, and always will happen, because it is a net good thing overall. However, it also exposes new means of exploitation that were did not exist before. AKA, technology solves two problems, and creates a brand new one. It is futile (and dare I say useless) to cry fowl that technological innovation is happening. Instead, we should be revisiting our existing governance structures and remodel them according to the new reality we live in. You're arguing against things I didn't say at all. You should re-read my initial comment and try to not project <groupsay> onto it.