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Only 16 Percent of Americans Think AI Will Have a Positive Impact on Society

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Re: Only 16 Percent of Americans Think AI Will Have a Positive Impact on Society

#201

Post by CamperBob2 »

cryo32 wrote: post #180
atleastoptimal wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They didn't overestimate the interest. ChatGPT is extremely popular and notable. >The tech industry doesn't speak for the entire planet Of course they don't, but they are still allowed to make a product, and pivot if there's no consumer demand. However there is huge consumer and business demand for AI so they are justified in making the investments they are.

Not quite. They don't operate like that. It is not ok to lobby and manipulate governments for fiscal policy changes to write off the costs and risks on the general public. We MUST be entirely insulated from their failure as society. If they can't raise the capital for the product then they should fail quietly and insignificantly which is not what is going to happen at the moment.

It is not ok to lobby and manipulate governments for fiscal policy changes to write off the costs and risks on the general public.

Right now they have to lobby and manipulate the government just to keep from being shut down on a mad king's whim. A mad king elected and re-elected by the same morons who now demand a say in how AI is built and used. No, thanks.

Government is not the solution. Government is the problem. The Republicans told us that, and they were right, just not in the way they meant.

Re: Only 16 Percent of Americans Think AI Will Have a Positive Impact on Society

#202

Post by rayiner »

slg wrote: post #93
everdrive wrote: post #35

It's no surprise. The wild tech optimism of the 1990s and 2000s has completely fallen apart as time and time again tech companies have proved to be some of the most hostile actors in most American's lives. Perhaps edged out only by things such as actual violent crime and partisan hatred. (which itself, of course, is stoked to the absolute maximum in part due to technology trends in the past 15 years or so) The loneli…

>The only hope we have is that they're wrong, and their power to change things will be minimal. What even is the optimistic outcome if they are right? What are we all working towards? Like do people think that these AI companies will create some superintelligence, suck up all the financial benefits of that, and then just decide to share it with the rest of us out of kindness? Because I legitimately can't see a realis…

> Like do people think that these AI companies will create some superintelligence, suck up all the financial benefits of that, and then just decide to share it with the rest of us out of kindness?

I don’t get this. It’s like worrying in 1960 that the companies that invented computers will hoard the benefits of computing. It doesn’t make any sense. There is no secret formula to any of this. The math underlying the models is widely known, and there are tons of competitors, including foreign competitors.

Re: Only 16 Percent of Americans Think AI Will Have a Positive Impact on Society

#203

Post by add-sub-mul-div »

woah wrote: post #129

This is less insightful than what people might want to read into it. The democratic party has adopted an anti-ai stance as a position in the partisan football game. NPR tote bag carriers read with great concern about AI's terrible water usage (in reality a tiny fraction of that used in things such as lawns), and about the fact that it can do a better job than amateur artists. On the other side, you don't see a simila…

Sir, this is a Wendy's.

Re: Only 16 Percent of Americans Think AI Will Have a Positive Impact on Society

#206

Post by andrewmutz »

everdrive wrote: post #35

It's no surprise. The wild tech optimism of the 1990s and 2000s has completely fallen apart as time and time again tech companies have proved to be some of the most hostile actors in most American's lives. Perhaps edged out only by things such as actual violent crime and partisan hatred. (which itself, of course, is stoked to the absolute maximum in part due to technology trends in the past 15 years or so) The loneli…

It's beyond tech. Optimism in general is out of fashion, and pessimism is pervasive. The technology for delivering bad news and highly-engaging outrage-bait has developed much faster than our society has been able to adapt to it.

Just as americans don't trust AI or the tech industry, they don't trust any public institutions.

The fundamental problem is not AI or tech or institutions being bad. The fundamental problem is that the way we distribute information about the world has a deep negativity bias. This exists because the information economy is supported by advertisement, which requires attention to profit, and attention is easiest to attract with negativity. "If it bleeds, it leads" has been true forever.

Re: Only 16 Percent of Americans Think AI Will Have a Positive Impact on Society

#207

Post by cjfd »

hparadiz wrote: post #106
everdrive wrote: post #35

It's no surprise. The wild tech optimism of the 1990s and 2000s has completely fallen apart as time and time again tech companies have proved to be some of the most hostile actors in most American's lives. Perhaps edged out only by things such as actual violent crime and partisan hatred. (which itself, of course, is stoked to the absolute maximum in part due to technology trends in the past 15 years or so) The loneli…

People just forget the before times. No one wants to go back to printing out driving directions or emailing photos. We take all these things for granted now but I am 100 certain the technology we have now has saved hundreds of millions of lives through downstream butterfly effects.

I am not so sure. The world of printing out driving directions or emailing photos sounds a lot more calm. Also, simply quite enjoyable. The current world is cramming too many events in too little time, it seems. Stress is quite bad for health so I am not so sure about these hundreds of millions of lives saved. It may also have costed quite a few.

Re: Only 16 Percent of Americans Think AI Will Have a Positive Impact on Society

#208

Post by add-sub-mul-div »

apparent wrote: post #117

It's hard to balance the downsides (devastating job losses that will affect certain fields) with the upsides (curing diseases, increasing efficiency in ways that will reduce costs of many goods). Is something a net benefit if everything is cheaper and cancer is cured, but you have no job?

Is something a net benefit if the upsides are hypothetical and the downsides are extant?

Re: Only 16 Percent of Americans Think AI Will Have a Positive Impact on Society

#209

Post by Karrot_Kream »

arjie wrote: post #155

It is to America’s great fortune that her technological innovations are not passed by committee. In particular, polls always capture the status quo. Other things that were widely unpopular: interracial marriage, gay marriage. And especially for technology, public opinion led to the stalling of fission power in the US. So hurray for ignoring the majority of people. I’m glad people can offer other people services in a…

Everyone is going to dislike this comment because you're cutting across two different polarized groups and comment sections rarely champion the middle ground.

Re: Only 16 Percent of Americans Think AI Will Have a Positive Impact on Society

#210

Post by MiguelVieira »

arjie wrote: post #155

It is to America’s great fortune that her technological innovations are not passed by committee. In particular, polls always capture the status quo. Other things that were widely unpopular: interracial marriage, gay marriage. And especially for technology, public opinion led to the stalling of fission power in the US. So hurray for ignoring the majority of people. I’m glad people can offer other people services in a…

Throughout the 1960s a majority of Americans did not think the Apollo moon missions were worth the cost.
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