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I'm really tired of these arguments (this and "it's just like calculators"). Photography decimated other forms of visual art, so the concern wasn't wrong. But

I'm really tired of these arguments (this and "it's just like calculators"). Photography decimated other forms of visual art, so the concern wasn't wrong. But AI threatens the entirety of human intellectual endeavors. I can make do without oil paintings in my home. I'm not sure I want to live in a future where we make do without brains.

piker 22d ago
Had me until the last word. Cameras did take away oil paintings, but not eyes.
- astrobe_ 22d ago
  It did. While you're busy recording an "instagramable" moment, you are not entirely enjoying that moment. Your eyes are on the screen, not on the subject. In a way, if photography is an ersatz for painting that eventually made imaging available for the masses, then AI could become an ersatz for thinking. But it feels like I'm paraphrasing TFA. What will happen when AI companies have spent their advertising budget on math problems and whatever else gives the maximum wow effect for the bucks? Probably customers hooked on the vain satisfaction of spending token$ to impress friends.
beambot 22d ago
Humans still have brains (and thus human intellect) even in the presence of AI... Even today, people make varying use of their brains.
- jiggawatts 22d ago
  But what use will be their brains to others if a machine can do the thinking instead for a fraction of cost?
  - int_19h 21d ago
    Whatever they feel like putting them to, instead of whatever they are forced to put them to to earn their living?
CuriouslyC 22d ago
Lots of people still make bad music that other people still manage to enjoy (a lot of it has gone multi-platinum!) even though they're not Mozart or Bach.
- Forgeties79 22d ago
  This would be valid if we didn’t live in under capitalism, which reduces the way we spend our time down to dollars and cents.
  - int_19h 21d ago
    Correct. So burn down capitalism, not AI?
    - Forgeties79 21d ago
      Or be honest about what’s happening and interrogate both?
      - int_19h 21d ago
        I did; the above is my conclusion. AI itself is a highly positive technological development in terms of how much human suffering it can alleviate.
        Forgeties79 21d ago
        And yet it has primarily been a negative so far with terrible stewards, so forgive me for not being so optimistic.
        int_19h 20d ago
        Of course it is, because our society is pretty much structured to place sociopaths on top. Why is it at all surprising that any technological advancement is going to be used by them in a way that doesn't benefit the rest of us? But it's equally obvious that this has nothing to do with the tech itself.
anthonypasq 22d ago
you can still get oil paintings in your house. you just arent willing to pay for actual art
- HDThoreaun 21d ago
  You can import oil paintings from China for very cheap. I’ve got a ton of nice ones

piker 22d ago

Had me until the last word. Cameras did take away oil paintings, but not eyes.

astrobe_ 22d ago
It did. While you're busy recording an "instagramable" moment, you are not entirely enjoying that moment. Your eyes are on the screen, not on the subject. In a way, if photography is an ersatz for painting that eventually made imaging available for the masses, then AI could become an ersatz for thinking. But it feels like I'm paraphrasing TFA. What will happen when AI companies have spent their advertising budget on math problems and whatever else gives the maximum wow effect for the bucks? Probably customers hooked on the vain satisfaction of spending token$ to impress friends.

beambot 22d ago

Humans still have brains (and thus human intellect) even in the presence of AI... Even today, people make varying use of their brains.

jiggawatts 22d ago
But what use will be their brains to others if a machine can do the thinking instead for a fraction of cost?
- int_19h 21d ago
  Whatever they feel like putting them to, instead of whatever they are forced to put them to to earn their living?

CuriouslyC 22d ago

Lots of people still make bad music that other people still manage to enjoy (a lot of it has gone multi-platinum!) even though they're not Mozart or Bach.

Forgeties79 22d ago
This would be valid if we didn’t live in under capitalism, which reduces the way we spend our time down to dollars and cents.
- int_19h 21d ago
  Correct. So burn down capitalism, not AI?
  - Forgeties79 21d ago
    Or be honest about what’s happening and interrogate both?
    - int_19h 21d ago
      I did; the above is my conclusion. AI itself is a highly positive technological development in terms of how much human suffering it can alleviate.
      - Forgeties79 21d ago
        And yet it has primarily been a negative so far with terrible stewards, so forgive me for not being so optimistic.
        int_19h 20d ago
        Of course it is, because our society is pretty much structured to place sociopaths on top. Why is it at all surprising that any technological advancement is going to be used by them in a way that doesn't benefit the rest of us? But it's equally obvious that this has nothing to do with the tech itself.

anthonypasq 22d ago

you can still get oil paintings in your house. you just arent willing to pay for actual art

HDThoreaun 21d ago
You can import oil paintings from China for very cheap. I’ve got a ton of nice ones