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> If tomorrow the greatest dream of AI was achieved, and we had a perfect benevolent AI that would shepherd humanity to comfort and safety forever, that would b
by boredhedgehog 2y ago
> If tomorrow the greatest dream of AI was achieved, and we had a perfect benevolent AI that would shepherd humanity to comfort and safety forever, that would be just about the best outcome imaginable in material terms. But I think I'd be unhappy with it, because I derive a lot of my personal sense of worth from what I do - from what I build and for what I contribute to other people.
But surely the Shepherd would be aware of your soul's needs as well, and could pretend that your help is required somewhere in the system.
- rachofsunshine 2y agoPerhaps so! I thought about writing a story of an AI like that - something that cures diseases and prevents war and gives you all the tools to be smarter and healthier and more virtuous, but otherwise says "nope, humanity, you gotta figure this out yourself if you want the reward". It'd be an interesting sci-fi setting.
- teamonkey 2y agoMany books in Iain M Banks’ Culture series describe how humans find meaning or otherwise entertain themselves in an AI-led post-scarcity utopia
- chongli 2y agoBut surely the Shepherd would be aware of your soul's needs as well, and could pretend that your help is required somewhere in the system. I think most people wouldn’t be fooled by this. People intuitively understand when their work is superfluous. They see that even if they slack off nothing blows up, no alarm bells sound, no production lines grind to a halt, no one dies.