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The future of everything is lies, I guess: Where do we go from here?

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Re: The future of everything is lies, I guess: Where do we go from here?

#471

Post by warkdarrior »

engeljohnb wrote: post #126
jbxntuehineoh wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

that's the neat part, the source is also going to be bullshit slop!

Therefore, you can dismiss whatwever claim is being made. That's the reason to ask for the source: so you can judge whether it's reliable.

> That's the reason to ask for the source: so you can judge whether it's reliable.

So the solution to checking whether an article is reliable is to check whether its sources are reliable? How far back do you go? Or do you disregard immediately any article that does not cite only sources you already trust?

Re: The future of everything is lies, I guess: Where do we go from here?

#472

Post by munificent »

abricq wrote: post #70

> ML assistance reduces our performance and persistence, and denies us both the muscle memory and deep theory-building that comes with working through a task by hand: the cultivation of what James C. Scott would call Imagine being starting university now... I can't imagine to have learned what I did at engineering school if it wasn't for all the time lost on projects, on errors. And I can't really think that I would…

My kids are high school age. It's hard to convey the deep existential dread their generation has about the future.

* They are growing up in a climate that is worse than any prior generation had and getting worse.

* In the US, they are growing up in a time with less upward mobility and more economic inequality than the previous several generations had.

* Trust in social institutions and government is crumbling before their eyes.

* Blue collar jobs are already gone and white collar jobs have no certainty because of AI. Almost all of the money has already been sucked out of artistic professions and what little is left is quickly evaporating because of AI.

Imagine you're 17 like my daughter and trying to decide what to major in in college. You want to pick something that you think is likely to give you some kind of decent career and sense of stability. What do you pick?

Because, I'll tell you, she asks me and I have no fucking idea what to say.

Re: The future of everything is lies, I guess: Where do we go from here?

#473

Post by harryquach »

> I have never used an LLM for my writing, software, or personal life

Must be nice to not have a paycheck tied to using this tech. For many people, myself included, its either use it (adapt) or lose your job. Most of us relay on our jobs to pay bills and live in the modern world.

Re: The future of everything is lies, I guess: Where do we go from here?

#474

Post by munificent »

jexe wrote: post #394

I'm concerned that there's no real way to "opt out" of an AI future realistically. Is this something that people are seriously thinking they'll be able to do and successfully stay gainfully employed and contributing to the world?

There isn't. Just like with climate change and governments, we're all effectively in one big boat together. You can stop paddling towards the waterfall, but you can't stop everyone else from paddling and you can't get off the boat.

Re: The future of everything is lies, I guess: Where do we go from here?

#475

Post by the_af »

munksbeer wrote: post #468
the_af wrote: post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are more options: Mass unemployment, consolidation of all AI-related benefits in the hands of a few, an increase in demand that doesn't outpaced the loss of employment, increase in capabilities (not AGI) that mean a few chosen people can do most things without hiring other people, etc.

If there is mass unemployment, who is going to buy anything from anyone? The "few" don't need or want us to be scraping in the dirt. They want us spending lots of money on their products, so their wealth increases. I know it is the classic sci-fi dystopia where somehow despite endless advances in tech and automation, the masses can't figure out how to make it work for themselves and end up living in shanty towns on t…

> If there is mass unemployment, who is going to buy anything from anyone? The "few" don't need or want us to be scraping in the dirt.

> They want us spending lots of money on their products, so their wealth increases.

If we're considering scifi scenarios, imagine this: if full blown automation of everything is achieved, why would the "haves" need the "have-nots" buying anything at all? Why would they need them to exist, at all? Think about it. It's an extreme and we're not near it... yet.

> despite endless advances in tech and automation, the masses can't figure out how to make it work for themselves

If the tech (or the really helpful tech) is guarded behind a lock, and they don't hold a key, it's not a matter of figuring things out. Unless by figuring out you mean revolt?

Re: The future of everything is lies, I guess: Where do we go from here?

#477

Post by munksbeer »

mrdependable wrote: post #245
yubblegum wrote: post #63

I fear that outside of cataclysmic global warfare or some sort of butlerian jihad (which amounts to the same) this genie is not going back into the bottle. This tech is 100% aligned with the goals of the 0.001% that own and control it, and almost all of the negatives cited by Kyle and likeminded (such as myself) are in fact positives for them in context of massive population reduction to eliminate "useless eaters" an…

It would be difficult, but not necessarily THAT difficult. With enough pushback from the public, AI would start getting regulated in meaningful ways. The problem is too many people love it, and see no problem with it. Because the momentum and money is on their side, it feels like it is impossible. Maybe things will turn out fine and we will just live in a similar but more depressing future, but if the pro-AI crowd ge…

> Maybe things will turn out fine and we will just live in a similar but more depressing future

Or things could turn out more than fine and we progress as we've always progressed, towards more abundance and humans in 30 years will live massively better lives than we live today, just as we live massively better lives than people at just about any previous point in history.

Re: The future of everything is lies, I guess: Where do we go from here?

#478

Post by harryquach »

grvdrm wrote: post #111

Two years ago, I was enjoying a drink with my wife, her friend, a very senior female VC partner, and another friend. Somehow we talked AI in some depth, and the VC at one point said (about AI): “I don’t know what our kids are going to do for work. I don’t know what jobs there will be to do.” That same VC invests in AI companies and by what I heard about her, has done phenomenally well. I think about that exchange all…

> Worried about your own kids but acting against their interests.

> That same VC invests in AI companies and by what I heard about her, has done phenomenally well.

Her kids will be fine, its the vast majority of other, non wealthy, kids who are in trouble.

Re: The future of everything is lies, I guess: Where do we go from here?

#479

Post by munificent »

engeljohnb wrote: post #126
jbxntuehineoh wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

that's the neat part, the source is also going to be bullshit slop!

Therefore, you can dismiss whatwever claim is being made. That's the reason to ask for the source: so you can judge whether it's reliable.

Great, I dismissed it.

Unfortunately, the several million other people who live in the same voting unit as me didn't and ended up electing an asshat anyway.

Re: The future of everything is lies, I guess: Where do we go from here?

#480

Post by cindyllm »

munksbeer wrote: post #477
mrdependable wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would be difficult, but not necessarily THAT difficult. With enough pushback from the public, AI would start getting regulated in meaningful ways. The problem is too many people love it, and see no problem with it. Because the momentum and money is on their side, it feels like it is impossible. Maybe things will turn out fine and we will just live in a similar but more depressing future, but if the pro-AI crowd ge…

> Maybe things will turn out fine and we will just live in a similar but more depressing future Or things could turn out more than fine and we progress as we've always progressed, towards more abundance and humans in 30 years will live massively better lives than we live today, just as we live massively better lives than people at just about any previous point in history.

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