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I don't think Asimov envisioned a world where AI would be controlled by a clique of ultra-wealthy oligarchs.

code_for_monkey 2y ago
or that it would aggressively focused on doing the work of already low paid creative field jobs. I dont want to read an AI's writing if theres a person who could write it.
Spooky23 2y ago
Asimov’s future was pretty dark. He didn’t come out and say it, but it was implied that we had a lot of big entities ruling everything. Many of the negative political people were painted as “populist” figures. If you are a fan of the foundation books, recall that many of the leaders of various factions were a bunch of idiots little different than the carnival barkers we see today.
vonneumannstan 2y ago
May want to reread. U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men is pretty prominent in his Robot stories.
ruffrey 2y ago
As I recall, many of his early stories involved "U.S. Robot & Mechanical Men" which was a huge conglomerate owning a lot of the market on AI (called "robots" by Asimov, it included "Multivac" and other interfaces besides humanoid robots).
tumsfestival 2y ago
I remember reading his book 'The Naked Sun' back in highschool and one of the things that stuck to me was how Earth was kind of a dump bereft of robots, meanwhile the Spacer humans were incredibly rich, had a low population and their society was run by robots doing all the menial work. You could argue he envisioned our current world even if accidentally.
klabb3 2y ago
Yes. When I hear dreams of the past it makes me nostalgic because they all come from a pre-exploited era of tech with the underlying subtext that humanity is unified in wanting tech to be used for good purposes. The reality is tech is a vessel for traditional enrichment, such as resource wars of say oil or land have been. Both domestically and geopolitically, tech is seen that way today. In such a world, tech advancements offers opportunities for the powerful to grab more, changing the relative distribution of power in their favor. If tech shows us anything is that this relative notion of wealth or social posturing is the central axis around which humans align themselves, wherever on the socioeconomic ladder you are and independent of absolute and basic needs.
- southernplaces7 2y ago
  >because they all come from a pre-exploited era of tech with the underlying subtext that humanity is unified in wanting tech to be used for good purposes. That's the problem with being nostalgic for something you possibly didn't even live. You don't remember all the other ugly complexities that don't fit your idealized vision. Nothing about the world of the sci fi golden age was less exploitative or prone to human misery than it is today. If anything, it was far worse than what we have today in many ways (excluding perhaps the reach of the surveillance state) Some of the US government's worst secret experiments against the population come from that same time and the naive faith by the population in their "leaders" made propaganda by centralized big media outlets all the more pervasively powerful. At the same time, social miseries were common and so too were many strictures against many more people on economic and social opportunities. As for technology being used for good purposes, bear in mind that among many other nasty things being done, the 50's and 60s were a time in which several governments flagrantly tested thousands of nukes out in the open, in the skies, above-ground and in the oceans with hardly a care in the world or any serious public scrutiny. If you're looking at that gone world with rose-tinted glasses, I'd suggest instead using rose tinted welding goggles.. The world of today may be full of flaws, but the avenues for breaking away from controlled narratives and controlled economic rules are probably broader than they've ever been.
  - klabb3 2y ago
vannevar 2y ago
>Asimov’s future was pretty dark. He didn’t come out and say it, but it was implied that we had a lot of big entities ruling everything. >As I recall, many of his early stories involved "U.S. Robot & Mechanical Men" which was a huge conglomerate owning a lot of the market on AI... >May want to reread. U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men is pretty prominent in his Robot stories. Good points from some of these replies. The interview is fairly brief, perhaps he didn't feel he had the time to touch on the socio-economic issues, or that it wasn't the proper forum for those concerns.

or that it would aggressively focused on doing the work of already low paid creative field jobs. I dont want to read an AI's writing if theres a person who could write it.

Spooky23 2y ago

Asimov’s future was pretty dark. He didn’t come out and say it, but it was implied that we had a lot of big entities ruling everything. Many of the negative political people were painted as “populist” figures. If you are a fan of the foundation books, recall that many of the leaders of various factions were a bunch of idiots little different than the carnival barkers we see today.

vonneumannstan 2y ago

May want to reread. U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men is pretty prominent in his Robot stories.

ruffrey 2y ago

As I recall, many of his early stories involved "U.S. Robot & Mechanical Men" which was a huge conglomerate owning a lot of the market on AI (called "robots" by Asimov, it included "Multivac" and other interfaces besides humanoid robots).

tumsfestival 2y ago

I remember reading his book 'The Naked Sun' back in highschool and one of the things that stuck to me was how Earth was kind of a dump bereft of robots, meanwhile the Spacer humans were incredibly rich, had a low population and their society was run by robots doing all the menial work. You could argue he envisioned our current world even if accidentally.

klabb3 2y ago

Yes. When I hear dreams of the past it makes me nostalgic because they all come from a pre-exploited era of tech with the underlying subtext that humanity is unified in wanting tech to be used for good purposes. The reality is tech is a vessel for traditional enrichment, such as resource wars of say oil or land have been. Both domestically and geopolitically, tech is seen that way today. In such a world, tech advancements offers opportunities for the powerful to grab more, changing the relative distribution of power in their favor. If tech shows us anything is that this relative notion of wealth or social posturing is the central axis around which humans align themselves, wherever on the socioeconomic ladder you are and independent of absolute and basic needs.

southernplaces7 2y ago
>because they all come from a pre-exploited era of tech with the underlying subtext that humanity is unified in wanting tech to be used for good purposes. That's the problem with being nostalgic for something you possibly didn't even live. You don't remember all the other ugly complexities that don't fit your idealized vision. Nothing about the world of the sci fi golden age was less exploitative or prone to human misery than it is today. If anything, it was far worse than what we have today in many ways (excluding perhaps the reach of the surveillance state) Some of the US government's worst secret experiments against the population come from that same time and the naive faith by the population in their "leaders" made propaganda by centralized big media outlets all the more pervasively powerful. At the same time, social miseries were common and so too were many strictures against many more people on economic and social opportunities. As for technology being used for good purposes, bear in mind that among many other nasty things being done, the 50's and 60s were a time in which several governments flagrantly tested thousands of nukes out in the open, in the skies, above-ground and in the oceans with hardly a care in the world or any serious public scrutiny. If you're looking at that gone world with rose-tinted glasses, I'd suggest instead using rose tinted welding goggles.. The world of today may be full of flaws, but the avenues for breaking away from controlled narratives and controlled economic rules are probably broader than they've ever been.
- klabb3 2y ago

vannevar 2y ago

>Asimov’s future was pretty dark. He didn’t come out and say it, but it was implied that we had a lot of big entities ruling everything. >As I recall, many of his early stories involved "U.S. Robot & Mechanical Men" which was a huge conglomerate owning a lot of the market on AI... >May want to reread. U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men is pretty prominent in his Robot stories. Good points from some of these replies. The interview is fairly brief, perhaps he didn't feel he had the time to touch on the socio-economic issues, or that it wasn't the proper forum for those concerns.