3 ms·

I never understood why in these types of discussions, things seem to be shoehorned into a context where usefulness is only measured in some sort of economic ROI

• jstummbillig 1y ago
  That's the entire high level premise of AI, as I understand it: Loosening economic constraints that bind us, so that we can do whatever we want to do most (which might still be work, I don't know, but that is outside the scope of this thread). What else could it possibly do for us?
  • bumby 1y ago
    Except the current premise is largely based on constraining humans to the drudgery that AI cannot do. Current AI is more focused on creative works, not on folding the laundry and replacing faucets. I had a professor decades ago who was near retirement who related how when he was an undergraduate he had to write a paper about what humans would do with all their newfound free time since they would only need to work a dozen hours a week. I’m sure similar conversations were had at the onset of steam power and electricity; we’ve been crafting the same pipe dream for generations. My point is that we should care about quality of life as the main measure. Economic output is a proxy for that, and sometimes a poor one.