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Avoiding AI is hard – but our freedom to opt out must be protected

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Re: Avoiding AI is hard – but our freedom to opt out must be protected

#2
I think most people who want to "opt out of AI" don't actually understand where AI is used. Every Google search uses AI, even the ones that don't show an "AI panel" at the top. Every iOS spellcheck uses AI. Every time you send an email or make a non-cryptocurrency electronic payment, you're relying on an AI that verifies that your transaction is legitimate.

I imagine the author would respond, "That's not what I mean!" Well, they should figure out what they actually mean.

Re: Avoiding AI is hard – but our freedom to opt out must be protected

#3
post #2

I think most people who want to "opt out of AI" don't actually understand where AI is used. Every Google search uses AI, even the ones that don't show an "AI panel" at the top. Every iOS spellcheck uses AI. Every time you send an email or make a non-cryptocurrency electronic payment, you're relying on an AI that verifies that your transaction is legitimate. I imagine the author would respond, "That's not what I mean!…

I imagine the author would respond: "That's what I said"

"Opting out of AI is no simple matter.

AI powers essential systems such as healthcare, transport and finance.

It also influences hiring decisions, rental applications, loans, credit scoring, social media feeds, government services and even what news or information we see when we search online."

Re: Avoiding AI is hard – but our freedom to opt out must be protected

#4
> Imagine applying for a job, only to find out that an algorithm powered by artificial intelligence (AI) rejected your resume before a human even saw it. Or imagine visiting a doctor where treatment options are chosen by a machine you can’t question.

I wonder when/if the opposite will be as much of an article hook:

"Imagine applying for a job, only to find out that a human rejected your resume before an algorithm powered by artificial intelligence (AI) even saw it. Or imagine visiting a doctor where treatment options are chosen by a human you can’t question."

The implicit assumption is that it's preferred that humans do the work. In the first case, probably most would assume an AI is... ruthless? biased? Both exist for humans too. Not that the current state of AI resume processing is necessarily "good".

In the second, I don't understand as no competent licensed doctor chooses the treatment options (absent an emergency); they presumably know the only reasonable options, discuss them with the patient, answer questions, and the patient chooses.

Re: Avoiding AI is hard – but our freedom to opt out must be protected

#5
post #2

I think most people who want to "opt out of AI" don't actually understand where AI is used. Every Google search uses AI, even the ones that don't show an "AI panel" at the top. Every iOS spellcheck uses AI. Every time you send an email or make a non-cryptocurrency electronic payment, you're relying on an AI that verifies that your transaction is legitimate. I imagine the author would respond, "That's not what I mean!…

Somewhere in 2024 I noticed that "AI" shifted to no longer include "machine learning" and is now closer to "GenAI" but still bigger than that. It was never a strict definition, and was always shifting, but it made a big shift last year to no longer include classical ML. Even fairly technical people recognize the shift.

Re: Avoiding AI is hard – but our freedom to opt out must be protected

#6
post #4

> Imagine applying for a job, only to find out that an algorithm powered by artificial intelligence (AI) rejected your resume before a human even saw it. Or imagine visiting a doctor where treatment options are chosen by a machine you can’t question. I wonder when/if the opposite will be as much of an article hook: "Imagine applying for a job, only to find out that a human rejected your resume before an algorithm pow…

> In the second, I don't understand as no competent licensed doctor chooses the treatment options (absent an emergency); they presumably know the only reasonable options, discuss them with the patient, answer questions, and the patient chooses.

I wish that were the case, but in my experience it is not. Every time I've seen a doctor, they offered only one medication, unless I requested a different one.

Re: Avoiding AI is hard – but our freedom to opt out must be protected

#7
post #4

> Imagine applying for a job, only to find out that an algorithm powered by artificial intelligence (AI) rejected your resume before a human even saw it. Or imagine visiting a doctor where treatment options are chosen by a machine you can’t question. I wonder when/if the opposite will be as much of an article hook: "Imagine applying for a job, only to find out that a human rejected your resume before an algorithm pow…

Humans can be held accountable. Machines can't. AI dilutes responsibility.

Re: Avoiding AI is hard – but our freedom to opt out must be protected

#8
post #4

> Imagine applying for a job, only to find out that an algorithm powered by artificial intelligence (AI) rejected your resume before a human even saw it. Or imagine visiting a doctor where treatment options are chosen by a machine you can’t question. I wonder when/if the opposite will be as much of an article hook: "Imagine applying for a job, only to find out that a human rejected your resume before an algorithm pow…

Humans can be held accountable. Machines can't. AI dilutes responsibility.

AI didn't bring anything new to the table, this is a human problem. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0YGZPycMEU

Re: Avoiding AI is hard – but our freedom to opt out must be protected

#10
post #4

> Imagine applying for a job, only to find out that an algorithm powered by artificial intelligence (AI) rejected your resume before a human even saw it. Or imagine visiting a doctor where treatment options are chosen by a machine you can’t question. I wonder when/if the opposite will be as much of an article hook: "Imagine applying for a job, only to find out that a human rejected your resume before an algorithm pow…

Humans can be held accountable. Machines can't. AI dilutes responsibility.

How fortunate that AIs are tools operated by humans, and can't cause worse responsibility issues than when a human employee is required to blindly follow a canned procedure.
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