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Experts pledge to rein in AI research

bbc.com

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Re: Experts pledge to rein in AI research

#31

Post by faizshah »

harshreality wrote: post #26
faizshah wrote: post #18

I don't know much about the philosophy of AI and I'm only familiar at a basic level with modern AI algorithms. From what I have been exposed to I don't see any reason to think AI is any more than a set of statistical frameworks. Is there any reason to believe that these statistical frameworks are comparable to biological intelligence? Am I thinking about this the wrong way?

It sounds like you're talking about the kinds of AI in use today? That's not what the cautions are about, since current "AI" however good at reading individual words or flying drones is not yet capable of human-level thought. The cautions are about trans-sapient AI, which doesn't exist yet. Even if it's simply a beefed up "set of statistical frameworks" linked in the right way to get a computer behave like a human, h…

I see, I didn't think about that. So you mean AI that are not necessarily intelligent or conscious but are just more integrated in our lives, for example in the military or law enforcement?

I can see how a bug in those kinds of systems could cause things like that without necessarily being conscious or intelligent.

Re: Experts pledge to rein in AI research

#32

Post by matt4077 »

maaaats wrote: post #12
bulletsvshumans wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How about a tax on AI that goes towards unemployment benefits of some kind?

But what is "AI"? Once something in AI gains traction, it quickly becomes part of the standard computer-science-toolkit. For instance, programmatically tuning some variables can be considered a standard task, either with some bruteforce or a small search between the possible combinations. This was earlier considered AI, but is now a common approach. AI now would probably be to do more advanced problems with genetic a…

A nice and steep tax on capital gains would do fine. As technology progresses and machines contribute more and more value the income they generate returns to those that financed them.

Re: Experts pledge to rein in AI research

#33

Post by tljr »

amelius wrote: post #22

Why not do the same with all of technology? Why do shareholders of big corporations profit from science in a grossly non-proportional way, while more than 50% of world's population has to live on under $2 a day? It is time for the world's greatest minds to start thinking about how to fix capitalism, because it seems to be seriously broken. And we need it fixed more than we need e.g. iPhone 7.0, or Google Adwords 2.0.

Wow. Went strait to 11 there didn't you. Though I must say, I can't disagree with any particular point.

Re: Experts pledge to rein in AI research

#34

Post by atrilla »

3beard wrote: post #21
bulletsvshumans wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How about a tax on AI that goes towards unemployment benefits of some kind?

I don't understand why AI eliminating jobs is considered a problem. If any job can be done by a computer program it simply means that humanity has outgrown this kind of work and that nobody should do that mindnumbing crap anymore. Let's forget that the word "computer" used to mean "guy who sits in an office of an accounting firm, and adds numbers all day long".

I agree. In fact, this is a recurrent piece of criticism that also appeared on an MIT Tech review, which I commented here:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8866253

Re: Experts pledge to rein in AI research

#35

Post by programminggeek »

3beard wrote: post #21
bulletsvshumans wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How about a tax on AI that goes towards unemployment benefits of some kind?

I don't understand why AI eliminating jobs is considered a problem. If any job can be done by a computer program it simply means that humanity has outgrown this kind of work and that nobody should do that mindnumbing crap anymore. Let's forget that the word "computer" used to mean "guy who sits in an office of an accounting firm, and adds numbers all day long".

Because there are too many people and people need to feed themselves and their families.

For example, consider if your job was made obsolete in 20-30 years. That there was no longer a need to program or manage computers any longer. All of a sudden all of this knowledge in your head is now basically useless and you have not likely developed any other meaningful skillset.

What do you do and what does society do for you?

THAT is why eliminating jobs is a problem. At some point the jobs simply aren't replaced by other things, or the other things are menial tasks, not meaningful tasks. If you eliminate enough jobs there isn't enough money to keep the consumer based economy afloat, and then the companies that own the robots go out of business because people who buy their products no longer have jobs or money to afford their product.

There are no clear solutions to this problem either.

Re: Experts pledge to rein in AI research

#36

Post by mseebach »

amelius wrote: post #22

Why not do the same with all of technology? Why do shareholders of big corporations profit from science in a grossly non-proportional way, while more than 50% of world's population has to live on under $2 a day? It is time for the world's greatest minds to start thinking about how to fix capitalism, because it seems to be seriously broken. And we need it fixed more than we need e.g. iPhone 7.0, or Google Adwords 2.0.

Yes! So broken! Must fix now!

http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21578665-nearly-1-bill...

Re: Experts pledge to rein in AI research

#38

Post by [deleted] »

Beltiras wrote: post #8

AI would, and should, succeed human intelligence properly implemented. We are nowhere near even understanding it as a problem, much less solving it. I attended an AGI conference a couple of years ago (summer of 2012 iirc). The general feeling was that we are still a lifetime away from a solution.

[deleted]

Re: Experts pledge to rein in AI research

#39

Post by JulianMorrison »

bsaunder wrote: post #9

"In the short term, this could mean research into the economic effects of AI to stop smart systems putting millions of people out of work." This seems unfortunate and somewhat challenging to do. Our current economic model encourages improving efficiency of systems. This seems like a good thing. Its really too bad that people "need" jobs. Jobs should be creating value or they shouldn't exist. Artificially "creating" j…

The idea of work, money and paying for things is obsolete and becoming dangerous. It needs replacing with a non-awful allocation economy.

Re: Experts pledge to rein in AI research

#40

Post by lukasm »

bulletsvshumans wrote: post #11
bsaunder wrote: post #9

"In the short term, this could mean research into the economic effects of AI to stop smart systems putting millions of people out of work." This seems unfortunate and somewhat challenging to do. Our current economic model encourages improving efficiency of systems. This seems like a good thing. Its really too bad that people "need" jobs. Jobs should be creating value or they shouldn't exist. Artificially "creating" j…

How about a tax on AI that goes towards unemployment benefits of some kind?

Money is not the only problem. Unemployment leads to loneliness, demotivation, social stigma. This is not only caused by social pressure to have a job. Even rich people work. We need some form of Minimal Activity.

The letter will have no effect. Similarly, you can sing a letter to stop drugs.

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