I'm Terrified of AI

[bob joyce]

i believe we have been living in the effects of AI for more than a decade.
social manipulation has taken place thru ought the continent's.
You see the damage it has done in the "what the hell" results of elections such as brexit etc........

[911MRP]

I’m more terrified by lack of human intelligence in so many facets of life than I am about artificial intelligence

[jaudette3]

i believe we have been living in the effects of AI for more than a decade.
social manipulation has taken place thru ought the continent's.
You see the damage it has done in the "what the hell" results of elections such as brexit etc........

And that's a BB gun compared to a Nuke.

JA

[jaudette3]

I’m more terrified by lack of human intelligence in so many facets of life than I am about artificial intelligence

I'm with you but not terrified, more like appalled. The dumb ones aren't dangerous. It's the malevolent smart ones that we need to fear. Never in the history of the world has one person had access to so much power. And that's just the part about bad guys. Another aspect of these powerful tools that are controlled by so few is that they will eventually have all the wealth. Humans are becoming obsolete as tools of production at many levels. And the riches - and the power - go to those who own the tools of production. Mark Twain said (I'm paraphrasing) "If the power resides in the hands of many they will control the few and if resides in the hands of the few they will control the many.". Hell, with AGI it would take fewer people to run the world than it does to staff a football team.

JA

[jaudette3]

I'm going to continue to poke this. Why? Because it's the biggest development in the history of mankind. It is going to change human life as we know it. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. The AI industry is increasingly being driven by stupid intelligent kids without a hint of wisdom because old folks are worried about the existential threat and are leaving.

You can assume that companies like Open AI have *way* more advanced technology than they're showing us. This is an arms race and there is a great deal of secrecy. And what they are showing us is already terrifying. SORA, for example. It blows your mind, but what good is it? It's going to eliminate graphic designers, stock content companies - and many others. Why is this good? Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should.

Sure, just like nuclear technology, it has the power to do many good things, such as revolutionize the health care industry. But, as with nuclear technology, how does it come out when subjected to a benefits analysis? It seems to me that if one of the negatives is extinction of the human race or destruction of life as we know it, that it should carry a bit of weight, no matter how many positives there are.

It's a perfect example of the Moloch Syndrome, a race to the bottom. If you're not familiar with Moloch the essay "Meditations on Moloch" explains it well. It might be old hat for you but for me it was a revelation and elevated my understanding of humanity and what makes it tick.

This is the most significant change in the history of mankind and that ain't hyperbole. At 80 years old, I'm checking out of here in the not too distant future. But worrying about my grandchildren makes me sick to my stomach. I'm not sure how to help their parents prepare their children for the radical changes ahead that will affect every aspect of their lives. It troubles me that so many people spend their time watching football and other trivial distractions while the world around is in the early stages of complete transformation.

Cheers,
John

[myflat6]

I’m more terrified by lack of human intelligence in so many facets of life than I am about artificial intelligence

i hear you, however AI is yet another tool to be used for the world's most questionable & devious humans. in my industry we are already utilizing AI fraud prevention tools, as the fraudsters are already demonstrating a high degree of skill using this technology for fraudulent activity. it is scary how difficult it is to discern fraud created by AI - even in these early years of the technology.

[bob joyce]

So.... Moloch..... The chip on the shoulder and the misguided belief that a social movement may remove it.

[RSTarga]

From the same great people that brought you social media.

[jaudette3]

I was talking to my son the other day about technology. He has been a technologist all his life and watches things closely. Born in 1970, his observation is that things have been declining in the U.S. since he was born, and probably for a few years before. We agree it began around the time of the Viet Nam War (not caused by that event - this is social commentary, not political). We looked at each other for a moment and had the same thought at the same time. The biggest change over that time? Technological "advancement". Coincidence? Correlation? I think there is much correlation for many reasons that are too numerous to list here. And now the advancement of technology goes, not into overdrive, not into exponential growth, but into hyper-warp geometric growth. Moore's Law seems like horse and buggy stuff. The human mind has a hard time comprehending exponential growth, much less geometric growth.

It's important to remember that this is an arms race and most of us are not fully informed as competing AI developers are showing us only the tip of the iceberg. One of the developers at Open AI posted a comment that they are releasing things slowly in order to gauge the public reaction. And the reaction to SORA (the mind blowing new technology that generates life-like video from word prompts using the Large Language Model (LLM) - check it out if you haven't done so already) has been surprisingly negative.

We may be entering an era of activist Luddites as AI is evoking a strong reaction (particularly from those who have trained all their life for a job that will soon be obsolete). So, add civil unrest to the many other things to worry about regarding AI advancement. For example, an autonomous taxi was burned in San Francisco a few days ago. Activists have also taken to placing traffic cones on the hoods of autonomous vehicles as it confuses the vehicle and it won't move until someone from the company comes out and removes the cone.

And lastly, in case you missed it, Sam Altman at Open AI is seeking $7 TRILLION in venture capital funding. Evidently chip fabs are unable to keep up with demand and he wants to go on a building spree. How much is $7 trillion? Who knows, but here’s one effort to make it more tangible. Let’s say that one dollar equals one second. You have been cruising along in your spaceship for 7,000,000,000,000 seconds (which equals 220,822 light-years). You have broken out of the Milky Way and you are nearing the Andromeda Galaxy. It may or not be troubling that oil-rich Middle East nations such as UAE are interested.

Amazing times we live in, eh?

Cheers,-
John

[72targa]

I wondered out loud what things will be like when my newborn granddaughter is my age. The mind reels.