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AI Destroys Institutions

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Re: AI Destroys Institutions

#141

Post by greggoB »

terminalshort wrote: post #127
greggoB wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Those in control of it aren't able to distinguish factual reporting today. Can't tell if you're referring to media outlets or AI companies here. I do remember this incident - it was an embarrassment for the outlets that jumped on that story. Especially because the general public has come to know there is a overriding tendency towards sensationalism. But surely this is very different from actual outright propaganda…

I'm talking about the media companies. AI companies aren't any better at it, but at least they don't go around sanctimoniously claiming to be the source of truth in the same way as journalists do. And it isn't different than outright propaganda operations because it is an outright propaganda operation. If you read the link in my comment, you will see that the report is just repeating claims from the government nearly…

I'm not going to take up the mantle of trying to dissuade you from your beliefs, but needless to say if you think that equating CNNs sensationalism-for-views model with the likes of Musk actively trying to dismantle Wikipedia [0] because he wants to rewrite reality (nevermind what Grok is currently doing [1]), then you need to have a hard look in the mirror.

[0] https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-launches-grokipedia-wi... [1] https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce8gz8g2qnlo

P.S. feel free to "do your own research" if the above are included in your supposed propaganda operation conspiracy.

Re: AI Destroys Institutions

#142

Post by t0bia_s »

greggoB wrote: post #98
t0bia_s wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

3. Same, including press that is no longer unbiased and serve as propaganda of political opinions. One might say that deinstitutionalization is actually good for plurality of opinions (some call it a democracy). If AI cause it, I'm fine with that.

And if AI leads to a situation in which the very ability to separate factual reporting from propaganda is almost entirely destroyed for anyone besides those in control of it, will you still be fine with it then? Pointing to a system with problems and then saying you have no issue with something that has the potential to be orders of magnitude more problematic seems an odd approach to me.

Would you follow AI generated news? Not me and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

If AI leads to decentralisation of press, it sounds better to me. We certainly do not need one or few big entities that follows political tendencies.

Re: AI Destroys Institutions

#143

Post by terminalshort »

greggoB wrote: post #141
terminalshort wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm talking about the media companies. AI companies aren't any better at it, but at least they don't go around sanctimoniously claiming to be the source of truth in the same way as journalists do. And it isn't different than outright propaganda operations because it is an outright propaganda operation. If you read the link in my comment, you will see that the report is just repeating claims from the government nearly…

I'm not going to take up the mantle of trying to dissuade you from your beliefs, but needless to say if you think that equating CNNs sensationalism-for-views model with the likes of Musk actively trying to dismantle Wikipedia [0] because he wants to rewrite reality (nevermind what Grok is currently doing [1]), then you need to have a hard look in the mirror. [0] https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-launches-grokiped…

Why do you lie and say he "tried to dismantle" Wikipedia when what he actually did was start a competitor?

Re: AI Destroys Institutions

#144

Post by _DeadFred_ »

cornholio wrote: post #87

I would summarize the central claim of the paper as: the widespread use of AI to mediate human interaction will rob people of agency, understanding and skill development, as well as destroying the social links necessary to maintain and improve institutions, while at the same time allowing powerful unaccountable actors (AI cabal) to interject into those relations and impose their institutional goals; by "institution"…

AI is by it's nature an entropy machine.

Re: AI Destroys Institutions

#145

Post by greggoB »

terminalshort wrote: post #143
greggoB wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not going to take up the mantle of trying to dissuade you from your beliefs, but needless to say if you think that equating CNNs sensationalism-for-views model with the likes of Musk actively trying to dismantle Wikipedia [0] because he wants to rewrite reality (nevermind what Grok is currently doing [1]), then you need to have a hard look in the mirror. [0] https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-launches-grokiped…

Why do you lie and say he "tried to dismantle" Wikipedia when what he actually did was start a competitor?

My apologies, I forgot how far he actually went [0]

[0] https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2025/02/elon-...

> start a competitor

Very charitable way of referencing an observably-obvious disinformation generator

Re: AI Destroys Institutions

#146

Post by greggoB »

t0bia_s wrote: post #142
greggoB wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And if AI leads to a situation in which the very ability to separate factual reporting from propaganda is almost entirely destroyed for anyone besides those in control of it, will you still be fine with it then? Pointing to a system with problems and then saying you have no issue with something that has the potential to be orders of magnitude more problematic seems an odd approach to me.

Would you follow AI generated news? Not me and I'm sure I'm not the only one. If AI leads to decentralisation of press, it sounds better to me. We certainly do not need one or few big entities that follows political tendencies.

Not if I can identify it, which I fear is going to become a harder task in the future.

> If AI leads to decentralisation of press, it sounds better to me.

Seems optimistic to me, given the trend with pretty much everything AI since ChatGPT was announced is concentrating as much power as possible in the hands of a few big tech companies.

As an added example: decentralization was a big promise of crypto; at present, hard for me to see how that's lived up to the promise. I don't see how the current trend with the hands of control over AI will work out any better in this regard.

Re: AI Destroys Institutions

#147

Post by jason_oster »

qsera wrote: post #96
t0bia_s wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What was correct? That we became idiots with new tools?

>That we became idiots with new tools? Yes, a little bit each time. But AI will finish the job. Because earlier it was writing skills, or attention span that was at stake. This time it is literally the ability to think.

Pray tell, what makes you impervious to the atrophy and mental decline caused by these inventions? Do you just not use "calculators, radio[s], cameras, phones, computers, smartphones, [or] social networks"? And so, you have avoided the trap of technologies through defiance?

Re: AI Destroys Institutions

#148

Post by UncleMeat »

rpdillon wrote: post #135
UncleMeat wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its a particularly weird criticism given that Danny is a lawyer and has experience in the CS research community. He is especially well suited to address a criticism that the authors are trying to trick people into thinking their work is a scientific paper, which is plainly a ridiculous criticism.

I'd love some clarity on that. The linked page says this: ``` How AI Destroys Institutions 77 UC Law Journal (forthcoming 2026) Boston Univ. School of Law Research Paper No. 5870623 40 Pages Posted: 8 Dec 2025 Last revised: 13 Jan 2026 ``` What exactly is this document? It reads like a heavily cited op-ed, but is coming out of a law school from a professor there and calls itself a "research paper". Very strange. EDIT…

> So this is congruent with the Journal's normal content (it's an essay), but having the document call itself a "research paper" conjured an inflated expectation about the rigor involved in the analysis, at least for me.

Right. And I think it is weird that people immediately leapt to this being some sort of deception by the authors and I think it was weird that when a lawyer who has experience in both domains clarified this that people doubled down.

Re: AI Destroys Institutions

#149

Post by t0bia_s »

greggoB wrote: post #146
t0bia_s wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you follow AI generated news? Not me and I'm sure I'm not the only one. If AI leads to decentralisation of press, it sounds better to me. We certainly do not need one or few big entities that follows political tendencies.

Not if I can identify it, which I fear is going to become a harder task in the future. > If AI leads to decentralisation of press, it sounds better to me. Seems optimistic to me, given the trend with pretty much everything AI since ChatGPT was announced is concentrating as much power as possible in the hands of a few big tech companies. As an added example: decentralization was a big promise of crypto; at present, ha…

Local AI exist as well. It's just hard to measure it.

Whats wrong with crypto decentralisation?

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