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Humans aren’t mentally ready for an AI-saturated ‘post-truth world’

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Re: Humans aren’t mentally ready for an AI-saturated ‘post-truth world’

#211

Post by [deleted] »

scrubs wrote: post #180
civilitty wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m working on a startup that’s training LLMs to be authentic so they can simulate human affection and it’s actually working really well! The key is humanity’s ability to pattern match: we’re actually pretty terrible at it. Our brains are so keen on finding patterns that they often spot them where none exist. Remember the face on Mars? It was just a pile of rocks. The same principle applies here. As long as the AI so…

You wrote: "I’m working on a startup that’s training LLMs to be authentic so they can simulate human affection and it’s actually working really well!" I got news for you buddy: I and a hell of a lot of people know the difference between eating the menu (AI) and the meal (loved ones and dear friends). My lady is from south America, multi lingual, and has a better degree from a better school than I. Seriously, how are…

[deleted]

Re: Humans aren’t mentally ready for an AI-saturated ‘post-truth world’

#212

Post by csours »

thumbuddy wrote: post #57
civilitty wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m working on a startup that’s training LLMs to be authentic so they can simulate human affection and it’s actually working really well! The key is humanity’s ability to pattern match: we’re actually pretty terrible at it. Our brains are so keen on finding patterns that they often spot them where none exist. Remember the face on Mars? It was just a pile of rocks. The same principle applies here. As long as the AI so…

Whew it's satire. Whew. I've literally seen posts on the internet that read like this sans the satire.

I mean, it's also real https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WSKKolgL2U

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replika

Re: Humans aren’t mentally ready for an AI-saturated ‘post-truth world’

#213

Post by paulpauper »

BizarreByte wrote: post #37
softbt wrote: post #17

Really don’t like the idea that we will act as interfaces for the AI, I honestly believe it will only many the majority of people lazier and dumber. I’m also incredibly shocked that no one is talking about AI as a friend/companion, that has to not be good for you in the long run. Humans need real human connection, AI is too artificial for that (duh). Having AI friends will be equivalent to consuming fast food instead…

> Having AI friends will be equivalent to consuming fast food instead of healthy home cooked meals growing up A person who is starving will do better with fast food than with no food at all. It's far from ideal, but for some people this will make their lives marginally more tolerable.

And also, fast food is no that much worse than traditional food anyway. home-made stir fry will have worse calories than a McDonald's chicken burger. homemade pasta is going to be as fattening as any fast food meal. it's just macros in the end. it does not matter where you get them from.

Re: Humans aren’t mentally ready for an AI-saturated ‘post-truth world’

#214

Post by edmundsauto »

36364949thrw wrote: post #182
civilitty wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m working on a startup that’s training LLMs to be authentic so they can simulate human affection and it’s actually working really well! The key is humanity’s ability to pattern match: we’re actually pretty terrible at it. Our brains are so keen on finding patterns that they often spot them where none exist. Remember the face on Mars? It was just a pile of rocks. The same principle applies here. As long as the AI so…

- Robo, tell me you love me. - I want to comply but you must first watch an ad or two. - Urg not ads again, Robo, I am so sick and tired of the ads. - Now now civilitty! You know the deal. -- later in the day -- - civilitty, lets play a game! - Oh, what game? - lets tell each other our deepest darkest secrets. It'll be fun!! - oh, ok! who should go first, Robo? - you go! it will help us build trust. - oh, ok! - well,…

This also plays out in human-human interaction, it's not specific to anything artificial.

Re: Humans aren’t mentally ready for an AI-saturated ‘post-truth world’

#215

Post by rcktmrtn »

tech_ken wrote: post #192
harterrt wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for sharing. I want to hear more from him. Do you have a recommended book by McLuhan to start with?

I believe "Understanding Media" is his biggest one; source of his most famous quote "the medium is the message"

Yes, I've reread is the first 2/3rds of "Understanding Media" several times and never finished it, but would still highly recommend it. There is also some excellent old interview footage of him when he was a pop culture figure which is originally what fascinated me. For me it would have been hard to read his writing without having seen those interviews first -- he has a very distinct style of writing/talking and is interesting as an integrated person within recent history and not just a collection of ideas. On that note, I'd also recommend Videodrome.

edit: There are also more polemic anti-tech presentations of his ideas, especially by Neil Postman or Nicholas Carr which are good in their own way. But to me the fascinating thing about McLuhan himself is his dedication to presenting his views in a such a matter-of-fact way that most of his early followers were probably very antithetical to his personal beliefs.

Re: Humans aren’t mentally ready for an AI-saturated ‘post-truth world’

#216

Post by digging »

wccrawford wrote: post #67
whywhywhywhy wrote: post #34

Post-truth has already been here for a long time, in fact when AI hits and we start to blame AI for post-truth it'll just be another post-truth lie.

I've heard so many people say "that's not my reality" or "that's not my truth" and actually be serious that "truth" can be different for each person... I was horrified each and every time.

Usually, when I hear people say that, it's more or less "agree to disagree" when they hear someone else saying falsehoods and don't have the energy to deal with it. Or, when people have a disagreement or argument, each of them have their own "truth", that is, the story of what happened from their point of view. Personally, I've never heard anyone confuse those phrases for "objective reality is whatever I want it to be".

Re: Humans aren’t mentally ready for an AI-saturated ‘post-truth world’

#217

Post by ta9515819 »

scrubs wrote: post #180
civilitty wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m working on a startup that’s training LLMs to be authentic so they can simulate human affection and it’s actually working really well! The key is humanity’s ability to pattern match: we’re actually pretty terrible at it. Our brains are so keen on finding patterns that they often spot them where none exist. Remember the face on Mars? It was just a pile of rocks. The same principle applies here. As long as the AI so…

You wrote: "I’m working on a startup that’s training LLMs to be authentic so they can simulate human affection and it’s actually working really well!" I got news for you buddy: I and a hell of a lot of people know the difference between eating the menu (AI) and the meal (loved ones and dear friends). My lady is from south America, multi lingual, and has a better degree from a better school than I. Seriously, how are…

[flagged]

Re: Humans aren’t mentally ready for an AI-saturated ‘post-truth world’

#218

Post by pixl97 »

luxuryballs wrote: post #198

I don’t like how they are using AI as an excuse to argue for increased censorship, what difference does it make what type of software the computer is giving information from? This is a potentially sneaky way of getting around freedom of speech, by somehow arguing that if an idea is recycled by a language model it is suddenly OK to censor it, as long as you’re a few degrees of separation from the original blog. What t…

Eh, this is far messier than you're making it out to be and something that was never thought of when our laws were created. Had human level AI agents existed at the time we wrote the constitution I can assure you it would have been written different.

For example, our conversation now. You take for granted it's between two humans, in fact you likely assume it's from someone in your own country. And based on the contents of our conversation, if we can sway each other, that the outcome of this conversation may determine how you vote in a representational democracy.

But instead lets say that I am a non-human entity. My entire existence is dictated by a script that says "manipulate luxuryballs to the following political views'. I never tell you I'm a bot, and my disguise is one of a near perfect human simulant. You think I went fishing last week. But I'll never feel. Never care. Never vote. "My" entire existence is one of hundreds of millions of political manipulation bots bought and paid for by whoever has the wealth.

This is what is coming and it's only going to get far worse.

Re: Humans aren’t mentally ready for an AI-saturated ‘post-truth world’

#219

Post by UncleOxidant »

luxuryballs wrote: post #198

I don’t like how they are using AI as an excuse to argue for increased censorship, what difference does it make what type of software the computer is giving information from? This is a potentially sneaky way of getting around freedom of speech, by somehow arguing that if an idea is recycled by a language model it is suddenly OK to censor it, as long as you’re a few degrees of separation from the original blog. What t…

> What the heck else is post-truth supposed to mean??

An environment where it's become difficult to tell what is true and what isn't. You could also phrase it as, what's real and what isn't. An epistemic crisis. I think we crossed into a post-truth world 7 or 8 years ago (it's been in process for at least a couple of decades) so it's not like AI precipitated this crisis, but it will accelerate it to new levels.

Re: Humans aren’t mentally ready for an AI-saturated ‘post-truth world’

#220

Post by imtringued »

rcktmrtn wrote: post #131
softbt wrote: post #17

Really don’t like the idea that we will act as interfaces for the AI, I honestly believe it will only many the majority of people lazier and dumber. I’m also incredibly shocked that no one is talking about AI as a friend/companion, that has to not be good for you in the long run. Humans need real human connection, AI is too artificial for that (duh). Having AI friends will be equivalent to consuming fast food instead…

More than interfaces. To quote McLuhan: "Man becomes, as it were, the sex organs of the machine world, as the bee of the plant world, enabling it to fecundate and to evolve ever new forms. The machine world reciprocates man's love by expediting his wishes and desires, namely, in providing him with wealth." The AI thing has been jarring but it's nothing new. All part of the same process.

The plants are actually farming us.
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