Image Credits: Getty Images
2024 has arrived, and with it, a renewed interest in artificial intelligence, which seems like itll probably continue to enjoy at least middling hype throughout the year. Of course, its being cheerled by techno-zealot billionaires and the flunkies bunked within their cozy islands of influence, primarily in Silicon Valley and derided by fabulists who stand to gain from painting the still-fictional artificial general intelligence (AGI) as humanitys ur-bogeyman for the ages.
Both of these positions are exaggerated and untenable, e/acc versus decel arguments be damned. Speed without caution only ever results in compounding problems that proponents often suggest are best-solved by pouring on more speed, possibly in a different direction, to arrive at some idealized future state where the problems of the past are obviated by the super powerful Next Big Thing of the future; calls to abandon or regress entire areas of innovation meanwhile ignore the complexity of a globalized world where cats generally can not be put back into boxes universally, among many, many other issues with that kind of approach.
The long, thrilling and tumultuous history of technology development, particularly in the age of the personal computer and the internet, has shown us that in our fervor for something new, we often neglect to stop and ask but is the new thing also something we want or need. We never stopped to ask that question with things like Facebook, and they ended up becoming an inextricable part of the fabric of society, an eminently manipulable but likewise essential part of crafting and sharing in community dialog.
Heres the main takeaway from the rise of social media that we should carry with us into the advent of the age of AI: Just because something is easier or more convenient doesnt make it preferable or even desirable.
LLM-based so-called AI has already infiltrated our lives in ways that will likely prove impossible to wind back, even if we wanted to do such a thing, but that doesnt mean we have to indulge in the escalation some see as inevitable, wherein we relentlessly rip out human equivalents of some of the gigs that AI is already good at, or shows promise in, to make way for the necessary forward march of progress.
The oft-repeated counter to fears that increased automation or handing menial work over to AI agents is that itll always leave people more time to focus on quality work, as if dropping a couple of hours per day spent on filling in Excel spreadsheets will leave the office admin who was doing that work finally free to compose the great symphony theyve had locked away within them, or to allow the entry-level graphic designer who had been color-correcting photos the liberty to create a lasting cure for COVID.
In the end, automating menial work might look good on paper, and it might also serve the top executives and deep-pocketed equity-holders behind an organization through improved efficiency and decreased costs, but it doesnt serve the people who might actually enjoy doing that work, or who at least dont mind it as part of the overall mix that makes up a work life balanced between more mentally taxing and rewarding creative/strategic exercises and day-to-day low-intensity tasks. And the long-term consequence of having fewer people doing this kind of work is that youll have fewer overall who are able to participate meaningfully in the economy which is ultimately bad even for those rarified few sitting at the top of the pyramid who reap the immediate rewards of AIs efficiency gains.
Utopian technologist zeal always fails to recognize that the bulk of humanity (techno-zealots included) are sometimes lazy, messy, disorganized, inefficient, error-prone and mostly satisfied with the achievement of comfort and the avoidance of boredom or harm. That might not sound all that aspirational to some, but I say it with a celebratory fervor, since for me all those human qualities are just as laudable as less attainable ones like drive, ambition, wealth and success.
Im not arguing against halting or even slowing the development of promising new technology, including LLM-based generative AI. And to be clear, where the consequences are clearly beneficial e.g. developing medical image diagnosis tech that far exceeds the accuracy of trained human reviewers, or developing self-driving car technology that can actually drastically reduce the incidence of car accidents and loss of human life there is no cogent argument to be made for turning away from use of said tech.
But in almost all cases where the benefits are painted as efficiency gains for tasks that are far from life or death, Id argue its worth a long, hard look at whether we need to bother in the first place; yes, human time is valuable and winning some of that back is great, but assuming thats always a net positive ignores the complicated nature of being a human being, and how we measure and feel our worth. Saving someone so much time they no longer feel like theyre contributing meaningfully to society isnt a boon, no matter how eloquently you think you can argue they should then use that time to become a violin virtuoso or learn Japanese.
See the original post:
The year of does this serve us and the rejection of reification - TechCrunch
- 'Godfather' of AI is now having second thoughts - The B.C. Catholic [Last Updated On: May 21st, 2023] [Originally Added On: May 21st, 2023]
- People warned AI is becoming like a God and a 'catastrophe' is ... - UNILAD [Last Updated On: May 21st, 2023] [Originally Added On: May 21st, 2023]
- Navigating artificial intelligence: Red flags to watch out for - ComputerWeekly.com [Last Updated On: May 21st, 2023] [Originally Added On: May 21st, 2023]
- Zoom Invests in and Partners With Anthropic to Improve Its AI ... - PYMNTS.com [Last Updated On: May 21st, 2023] [Originally Added On: May 21st, 2023]
- The Potential of AI in Tax Practice Relies on Understanding its ... - Thomson Reuters Tax & Accounting [Last Updated On: May 21st, 2023] [Originally Added On: May 21st, 2023]
- UK schools bewildered by AI and do not trust tech firms, headteachers say - The Guardian [Last Updated On: May 21st, 2023] [Originally Added On: May 21st, 2023]
- A glimpse of AI technologies at the WIC in N China's Tianjin - CGTN [Last Updated On: May 21st, 2023] [Originally Added On: May 21st, 2023]
- AI glossary: words and terms to know about the booming industry - NBC News [Last Updated On: May 21st, 2023] [Originally Added On: May 21st, 2023]
- Henry Kissinger says the U.S. and China are in a classic pre-World War I situation that could lead to conflict, but A.I. makes this not a normal... [Last Updated On: May 21st, 2023] [Originally Added On: May 21st, 2023]
- Programmed Values: The Role of Intention in Developing AI - Psychology Today [Last Updated On: May 21st, 2023] [Originally Added On: May 21st, 2023]
- Fear the fire or harness the flame: The future of generative AI - VentureBeat [Last Updated On: May 21st, 2023] [Originally Added On: May 21st, 2023]
- The Senate's hearing on AI regulation was dangerously friendly - The Verge [Last Updated On: May 21st, 2023] [Originally Added On: May 21st, 2023]
- Artificial intelligence GPT-4 shows 'sparks' of common sense, human-like reasoning, finds Microsoft - Down To Earth Magazine [Last Updated On: May 21st, 2023] [Originally Added On: May 21st, 2023]
- Why we need a "Manhattan Project" for A.I. safety - Salon [Last Updated On: May 21st, 2023] [Originally Added On: May 21st, 2023]
- What is AGI? The Artificial Intelligence that can do it all - Fox News [Last Updated On: May 21st, 2023] [Originally Added On: May 21st, 2023]
- Generative AI Thats Based On The Murky Devious Dark Web Might Ironically Be The Best Thing Ever, Says AI Ethics And AI Law - Forbes [Last Updated On: May 23rd, 2023] [Originally Added On: May 23rd, 2023]
- Artificial intelligence: World first rules are coming soon are you ... - JD Supra [Last Updated On: May 23rd, 2023] [Originally Added On: May 23rd, 2023]
- Today's AI boom will amplify social problems if we don't act now, says AI ethicist - ZDNet [Last Updated On: May 23rd, 2023] [Originally Added On: May 23rd, 2023]
- Artificial Intelligence May Be 'Threat' to Human Health, Experts Warn - HealthITAnalytics.com [Last Updated On: May 23rd, 2023] [Originally Added On: May 23rd, 2023]
- Amid job losses and fears of AI take-over, more tech majors are joining Artificial Intelligence race - The Tribune India [Last Updated On: May 23rd, 2023] [Originally Added On: May 23rd, 2023]
- Where AI evolves from here - Axios [Last Updated On: May 23rd, 2023] [Originally Added On: May 23rd, 2023]
- Parrots, paper clips and safety vs. ethics: Why the artificial intelligence debate sounds like a foreign language - CNBC [Last Updated On: May 23rd, 2023] [Originally Added On: May 23rd, 2023]
- How Microsoft Swallowed Its Pride to Make a Massive Bet on OpenAI - The Information [Last Updated On: May 28th, 2023] [Originally Added On: May 28th, 2023]
- Elon Musk on 2024 Politics, Succession Plans and Whether AI Will ... - The Wall Street Journal [Last Updated On: May 28th, 2023] [Originally Added On: May 28th, 2023]
- The AI Moment of Truth for Chinese Censorship by Stephen S. Roach - Project Syndicate [Last Updated On: May 28th, 2023] [Originally Added On: May 28th, 2023]
- Bard vs. ChatGPT vs. Offline Alpaca: Which Is the Best LLM? - MUO - MakeUseOf [Last Updated On: May 28th, 2023] [Originally Added On: May 28th, 2023]
- How AI and other technologies are already disrupting the workplace - The Conversation [Last Updated On: May 28th, 2023] [Originally Added On: May 28th, 2023]
- Meet PandaGPT: An AI Foundation Model Capable of Instruction-Following Data Across Six Modalities, Without The Need For Explicit Supervision -... [Last Updated On: May 28th, 2023] [Originally Added On: May 28th, 2023]
- AI education: Gather a better understanding of artificial intelligence with books, blogs, courses and more - Fox News [Last Updated On: May 28th, 2023] [Originally Added On: May 28th, 2023]
- 'Godfather of AI' says there's a 'serious danger' tech will get smarter than humans fairly soon - Fox News [Last Updated On: May 28th, 2023] [Originally Added On: May 28th, 2023]
- Israel aims to be 'AI superpower', advance autonomous warfare - Reuters.com [Last Updated On: May 28th, 2023] [Originally Added On: May 28th, 2023]
- Retail and Hospitality AI Revolution Forecast Model Report 2023 ... - GlobeNewswire [Last Updated On: May 28th, 2023] [Originally Added On: May 28th, 2023]
- 16 Jobs That Will Disappear in the Future Due to AI - Yahoo Finance [Last Updated On: May 28th, 2023] [Originally Added On: May 28th, 2023]
- What we lose when we work with a giant AI like ChatGPT - The Hindu [Last Updated On: May 28th, 2023] [Originally Added On: May 28th, 2023]
- Artificial general intelligence in the wrong hands could do 'really dangerous stuff,' experts warn - Fox News [Last Updated On: May 28th, 2023] [Originally Added On: May 28th, 2023]
- 5 things you should know about investing in artificial intelligence ... - The Motley Fool Australia [Last Updated On: June 17th, 2023] [Originally Added On: June 17th, 2023]
- Mint DIS 2023 | AI won't replace you, someone using AI will ... - TechCircle [Last Updated On: June 17th, 2023] [Originally Added On: June 17th, 2023]
- Satya Nadellas Oprah Moment: Microsoft CEO says he wants everyone to have an AI assistant - Firstpost [Last Updated On: June 17th, 2023] [Originally Added On: June 17th, 2023]
- Generative AI Will Have Profound Impact Across Sectors - Rigzone News [Last Updated On: June 17th, 2023] [Originally Added On: June 17th, 2023]
- Beware the EU's AI Regulations - theTrumpet.com [Last Updated On: June 17th, 2023] [Originally Added On: June 17th, 2023]
- Olbrain Founders launch blunder.one: Redefining Human Connections in the Post-AGI World - Devdiscourse [Last Updated On: June 17th, 2023] [Originally Added On: June 17th, 2023]
- Meet Sati-AI, a Non-Human Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Lions Roar - Lion's Roar [Last Updated On: June 17th, 2023] [Originally Added On: June 17th, 2023]
- How to Win the AI War - Tablet Magazine [Last Updated On: June 17th, 2023] [Originally Added On: June 17th, 2023]
- The Synergistic Potential of Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence - The Daily Hodl [Last Updated On: June 17th, 2023] [Originally Added On: June 17th, 2023]
- Dr. ChatGPT Will Interface With You Now - IEEE Spectrum [Last Updated On: July 11th, 2023] [Originally Added On: July 11th, 2023]
- Amazon tech guru: Eating less beef, more fish good for the planet, and AI helps us get there - Fox News [Last Updated On: July 11th, 2023] [Originally Added On: July 11th, 2023]
- Students who use AI to cheat warned they will be exposed as detection services grow in use - Fox News [Last Updated On: July 11th, 2023] [Originally Added On: July 11th, 2023]
- Crypto And AI Innovation: The London Attraction - Forbes [Last Updated On: July 11th, 2023] [Originally Added On: July 11th, 2023]
- AI would pick Bitcoin over centralized crypto Tether CTO - Cointelegraph [Last Updated On: July 11th, 2023] [Originally Added On: July 11th, 2023]
- What's missing from ChatGPT and other LLMs ... - Data Science Central [Last Updated On: July 11th, 2023] [Originally Added On: July 11th, 2023]
- 'Alarming' misuse of AI to spy on activists, journalists 'under guise of preventing terrorism': UN expert - Fox News [Last Updated On: July 11th, 2023] [Originally Added On: July 11th, 2023]
- Mastering ChatGPT: Introduction to ChatGPT | Thomas Fox ... - JD Supra [Last Updated On: July 11th, 2023] [Originally Added On: July 11th, 2023]
- Transparency is crucial over how AI is trained - and regulators must take the lead - Sky News [Last Updated On: July 11th, 2023] [Originally Added On: July 11th, 2023]
- Top 10 AI And Blockchain Projects Revolutionizing The World - Blockchain Magazine [Last Updated On: July 11th, 2023] [Originally Added On: July 11th, 2023]
- An Orb: the new crypto project by the creator of ChatGPT - The Cryptonomist [Last Updated On: July 11th, 2023] [Originally Added On: July 11th, 2023]
- AI must be emotionally intelligent before it is super-intelligent - Big Think [Last Updated On: July 11th, 2023] [Originally Added On: July 11th, 2023]
- NVIDIA CEO, European Generative AI Execs Discuss Keys to Success - Nvidia [Last Updated On: July 11th, 2023] [Originally Added On: July 11th, 2023]
- Tech Investors Bet on AI, Leave Crypto Behind - Yahoo Finance [Last Updated On: July 11th, 2023] [Originally Added On: July 11th, 2023]
- Its Going To Hit Like A Bomb: AI Experts Discuss The Technology And Its Future Impact On Storytelling KVIFF Industry Panel - Deadline [Last Updated On: July 11th, 2023] [Originally Added On: July 11th, 2023]
- AI tools trace the body's link between the brain and behavior - Axios [Last Updated On: July 11th, 2023] [Originally Added On: July 11th, 2023]
- Mission: Impossibles technology unpacked From AI to facial recognition - Yahoo Eurosport UK [Last Updated On: July 11th, 2023] [Originally Added On: July 11th, 2023]
- 27% of jobs at high risk from AI revolution, says OECD - Reuters [Last Updated On: July 11th, 2023] [Originally Added On: July 11th, 2023]
- AI likely to spell end of traditional school classroom, leading expert says - The Guardian [Last Updated On: July 11th, 2023] [Originally Added On: July 11th, 2023]
- AI humanoid robots hold UN press conference, say they could be more efficient and effective world leaders - Fox News [Last Updated On: July 11th, 2023] [Originally Added On: July 11th, 2023]
- China striving to be first source of artificial general intelligence, says think tank - The Register [Last Updated On: July 11th, 2023] [Originally Added On: July 11th, 2023]
- The Government's Role In Progressing AI In The UK - New ... - Mondaq News Alerts [Last Updated On: July 27th, 2023] [Originally Added On: July 27th, 2023]
- The AI Canon: A Curated List of Resources to Get Smarter About ... - Fagen wasanni [Last Updated On: July 27th, 2023] [Originally Added On: July 27th, 2023]
- Future of automotive journalism in India: Would AI take charge - Team-BHP [Last Updated On: July 27th, 2023] [Originally Added On: July 27th, 2023]
- OpenAI's Head of Trust and Safety Quits: What Does This Mean for ... - ReadWrite [Last Updated On: July 27th, 2023] [Originally Added On: July 27th, 2023]
- From vision to victory: How CIOs embrace the AI revolution - ETCIO [Last Updated On: July 27th, 2023] [Originally Added On: July 27th, 2023]
- Demis Hassabis - Information Age [Last Updated On: July 27th, 2023] [Originally Added On: July 27th, 2023]
- Why AI cant answer the fundamental questions of life | Mint - Mint [Last Updated On: July 27th, 2023] [Originally Added On: July 27th, 2023]
- This Health AI Startup Aims To Keep Doctors Up To Date On The ... - Forbes [Last Updated On: July 27th, 2023] [Originally Added On: July 27th, 2023]
- OpenAI Requires Millions of GPUs for Advanced AI Model - Fagen wasanni [Last Updated On: July 27th, 2023] [Originally Added On: July 27th, 2023]
- AI ethics experts warn safety principals could lead to 'ethicswashing' - Citywire [Last Updated On: July 27th, 2023] [Originally Added On: July 27th, 2023]
- AI bots could replace us, peer warns House of Lords during debate - The Guardian [Last Updated On: July 27th, 2023] [Originally Added On: July 27th, 2023]
- AI, Augmented Reality, The Metaverse | Media@LSE - London School of Economics and Political Science [Last Updated On: July 27th, 2023] [Originally Added On: July 27th, 2023]
- Will architects really lose their jobs to AI? - Dezeen [Last Updated On: July 27th, 2023] [Originally Added On: July 27th, 2023]
- Which US workers are exposed to AI in their jobs? - Pew Research Center [Last Updated On: July 27th, 2023] [Originally Added On: July 27th, 2023]
- AWS announces generative A.I. tool to save doctors time on paperwork - CNBC [Last Updated On: July 27th, 2023] [Originally Added On: July 27th, 2023]