Why are they obsessed with China?! Actually most of the US are. I guess if you’ve been a colonizer, your biggest fear is to be colonized.
AI 2040: Plan A
181–190 of 567 posts
Re: AI 2040: Plan A
#182It's telling that even Plan A describes a world I don't want to live in.
One where humans are increasingly pushed to the periphery to make room for data centers and the human population is subsumed by robots.
Who is this future serving? Not me. Fuck this.
Re: AI 2040: Plan A
#183I'm sure some people will have issue with my phrasing but, honest question: Are there examples of where we have collective decided not to pursue knowledge? Successfully? I guess nuclear weapons might be the best example though research doesn't seem have to actually "stopped" as much as gone underground and we still have country trying to climb that ladder. But I don't know how relevant that is to LLMs/AI. It almost f…
Perhaps the burning of the library at Alexandria would qualify. How intentional that was is somewhat in question, but the world certainly turned its back on the only collection of written knowledge and let it turn to ash.
FWIW the burning of the library of Alexandria, and, indeed, its status as "the only collection of written knowledge" are myths.
Re: AI 2040: Plan A
#184Earlier quoted context omitted.
That’s a possibility, but not the only one. The two most realistic ones are: we race ahead and maintain our status, or we slow down and open ourselves up to colonization.
Worth noting that it is the Europeans and Americans that have been colonial. Asian peoples have, with the prominent exception of the Mongols and Japanese Empire, pretty much not done that. In particular, China shut down its exploration program. This is a settler-colonial mindset that reflects all the bad things we did onto everyone else. Notably, it's a current US ally that is most guilty of this.
China is currently occupying Tibet, which never consented to the occupation and has invaded Vietnam 30 times. It ruled Vietnam for about 2 centuries starting about 600. China eventually had to leave Vietnam, but many other groups ceased to exist as a consequence of Chinese expansion. Here are some:
the Baiyue were a vast umbrella of diverse, non-Sinitic indigenous coastal tribes who inhabited Southern China and northern Vietnam.
The Xianbei were an ancient nomadic Proto-Mongolic people from the northern steppes.
The Di and Jie were two of the ancient "Five Barbarian" (Wu Hu) nomadic tribes of northern and western China during the Han and Jin periods.
The Dian Kingdom were an ancient, sophisticated indigenous southwest culture located in modern-day Yunnan province.
The Tujia were an indigenous group of the Hunan-Hubei region. Centuries of inward Han migration and intermarriage have resulted in the Tujia becoming culturally and structurally indistinguishable from their Han neighbors.
Re: AI 2040: Plan A
#185I'm sure some people will have issue with my phrasing but, honest question: Are there examples of where we have collective decided not to pursue knowledge? Successfully? I guess nuclear weapons might be the best example though research doesn't seem have to actually "stopped" as much as gone underground and we still have country trying to climb that ladder. But I don't know how relevant that is to LLMs/AI. It almost f…
we should never make ASI, what I am saying is strongly sane. ASI = not good. AGI, ~human brainpower, can be made safe enough. > Are there examples of where we have collective decided not to pursue knowledge? Successfully? human GMO, some bioweopns, I'm sure theres a long list of awful stuff no one wants to exist.
It's not even clear that ASI is a coherent concept.
But, I don't trust capital with either.
Re: AI 2040: Plan A
#186Earlier quoted context omitted.
Applying the term NIMBYism to anti-AI and anti-DC sentiment is a gross abuse of terminology. Datacenters don't need to be in anybody's residential neighborhood.
These developments are always facing local resistance. I previously lived in a place where they were building a quarry 30min outside of town and tons of houses had anti-quarry signs on their lawns. It was a big deal to appear anti-quarry even though it had little to do with their neighbourhood specifically (except maybe increased highway trucking traffic). Most industrial development face local protests like this and…
Seems like you ignored the GPs point to tell a NIMBY anecdote? They're questioning your premise, not asking what "NIMBY" means.
Re: AI 2040: Plan A
#187I'm sure some people will have issue with my phrasing but, honest question: Are there examples of where we have collective decided not to pursue knowledge? Successfully? I guess nuclear weapons might be the best example though research doesn't seem have to actually "stopped" as much as gone underground and we still have country trying to climb that ladder. But I don't know how relevant that is to LLMs/AI. It almost f…
Uhh north Korea?
Re: AI 2040: Plan A
#188This criticism, like most criticisms of AI, addresses the wrong part of the problem. The problem is harm to other parties. Typically customers and employees of corporations.
A solution is strict legal liability. Corporations must be strictly liable for harms. That liability should be higher when AI is involved. Such liability may not be waived by contract, forced into arbitration, or devolved upon a third party service.
Then we let the plaintiff's bar and the insurance adjusters price that risk.
Something like this turns on in the EU in October 2026.[1]
[1] https://cybernews.com/security/eu-will-hold-tech-companies-l...
Re: AI 2040: Plan A
#189NYT reported today that Russia and China are funding anti-datacenter and anti-ai hysteria on western social media. Always easier to boost something already existing on social media than manufacture it themselves, then wildly blow it out of proportion to make it seem urgent and important.
These campaigns have historically amplified conflict. They do not care what the conflict is about. But unlike some of the others, I’m hearing anti-AI sentiment from a wide range of people who don’t even use social media.
[deleted]
Re: AI 2040: Plan A
#190Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not exactly. There are some data centers being built in places that don't have the power and water to support them, and obviously it's rational for the locals to oppose them. But I live in a place where we have plenty of water and relatively cheap power (lots of renewables). There's not much risk to data center construction, but people are opposing it here, too. Because for most people, it's not actually about that.
An obvious question is if the cheap power is going to stay cheap after a large power-user comes in who has a proven track record of trying to make everything cheap for themselves with no regard for anyone else. Or another question to ask is - how does this data centre benefit the people who live there? If it doesn't, there's no reason they should want one to be built. Rubbish tips are necessary. I still don't want on…
Here's a better question: as we've had nearly as large of a data center build-out happen between 2005 and 2020 for non-AI purposes, with similarly high electricity and water demands...where has the concern been? Why is it only in the last 2-3 years that people are suddenly up in arms, as a very specific application is being deployed?