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Bill Gates: The turbulent AI era is here

gatesnotes.com

191–200 of 243 posts

Re: Bill Gates: The turbulent AI era is here

#191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This take completely ignores the amount of money in politics and that both parties have funding from overlapping sources which in turn represent how similar the two parties are on certain key issues such as the Palestinian genocide.

Notwithstanding that this sum is smaller than people think, seeing bipartisan stances does not in itself reflect a failure; it can just as easily be a good thing. All this reveals is that you have a pet issue that isn't being serviced well currently by the 2 parties, but tides and voter sentiment change; within a few short years most people have soured on Israel, and this will be reflected in forthcoming elections.

I don't have a single "pet issue", I care about a great deal of issues that neither party actually cares about addressing, and it's well-established that both parties push conservative, right-leaning neoliberal policy. I don't see these changes occurring overnight or fast enough to be acceptable.

Re: Bill Gates: The turbulent AI era is here

#193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No it’s not. Election denialism in 2026 in an American context refers to Donald Trump and his supporters denying the results of the 2020 election (and related claims). Pretending that capital does not significantly affect our elections contributes to the deterioration of democracy. If you actually don’t believe capital plays an outsized role in elections and government then take a gander at the Wikipedia page called…

If "capital interests" (ugh, capitalism) controlled democracy, please esplain: - Michael Bloomberg - Hillary Clinton (both in the 2008 primary and 2016 general) - Alex Vindman ... a simple Google search reveals that while there is some threshold amount of dosh necessary to get noticed, _more money != more votes_. To believe otherwise is is willful ignorance. Sometimes your favorite candidate loses because the median…

I’m not sure how to reply to your comment since it is almost entirely addressed to some imaginary person and is full of projection. I’ll just add that both parties serve capital.

Re: Bill Gates: The turbulent AI era is here

#194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really don't think UBI can ever happen in the US. There is a moral imperative of "industriousness". Keynes' prediction (or maybe desire) ~100 years ago of the 15 hour workweek never panned out.

Keynes prediction more than panned out if you look at the population level. Instead of everyone working less what happened is less people work. The fact that it took that specific shape is a source of A LOT of problems.

More people work. Keynes died in 1946 - meaning they had grand depression in his lifetime. Moreover, women employment went up by significant amounts - middle and upper class women would not work back then.

Re: Bill Gates: The turbulent AI era is here

#196

Just to put Bill Gates thoughts on AI into perspective, this was his comment on an AMA 9 years ago to the question "What kind of technological advancement do you wish to see in your lifetime?": > The big milestone is when computers can read and understand information like humans do. There is a lot of work going on in this field - Google, Microsoft, Facebook, academia,... Right now computers don't know how to represen…

Fascinating. Can't help but wonder how things will change over the next decade or so.

Re: Bill Gates: The turbulent AI era is here

#197

Just to put Bill Gates thoughts on AI into perspective, this was his comment on an AMA 9 years ago to the question "What kind of technological advancement do you wish to see in your lifetime?": > The big milestone is when computers can read and understand information like humans do. There is a lot of work going on in this field - Google, Microsoft, Facebook, academia,... Right now computers don't know how to represen…

[flagged]

Re: Bill Gates: The turbulent AI era is here

#198
post #12

> Instead, solutions should be developed through a public democratic process that includes elected officials, policymakers, educators, health workers, local officials, and community leaders. Millions of people will have their lives disrupted, and we’ll need a stronger, more flexible social safety net to help them manage the transition. Local communities are already raising concerns about the energy and water needed f…

Not everywhere. Switzerland has a direct democracy, which should be emulated by the rest of the world.

https://www.aboutswitzerland.eda.admin.ch/en/direct-democrac...

FWIW I am not from Switzerland, I only live there. Direct democracy works great.

Re: Bill Gates: The turbulent AI era is here

#199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Somehow, I don't think the people with all the money, gunmen and (soon) robots will be OK with the world you envision.

In a post-scarcity society, having a meagre policy to keep people alive and not-unruly is cheap. It's also getting way ahead of ourselves, since it's nowhere in sight. Software hiring was up this year.

Not really. The planet is crowded, currently with mostly productive members of society.

For the ultra rich psychos who run the show, do you really think they want poor people hanging around? When we can be wiped out in a few months?

Consider the pure greed Donald Trump is displaying. Now imagine that the 1000 most powerful people are the same, except they are smart enough to at least not rub it in peoples faces on live television.

They hate you, and want you dead.

Re: Bill Gates: The turbulent AI era is here

#200
post #27

I thought Gates' take on the human relational aspects of AI to be thoughtful, but I am surprised that his analysis on the economic and jobs aspect of AI offers little more than the party line. Every other technological advance that improved productivity (Industrial Revolution, etc.) has resulted in the loss of some jobs but the creation of jobs in other areas and an overall increase in the standard of living (althoug…

Because any job it creates it can automate as well, for example a lot of people here think that understanding how AI models operate internally or being up to date with the latest models will save them from making their jobs obsolete, it will not, AI itself will be better than you at picking the next model to deploy, at testing the speed of reasoning that beats it's own. Anything it will need to learn it will learn it faster than you with the ability to handle much more complexity than your brain.
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