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The AI industry is discovering that the public hates it

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Re: The AI industry is discovering that the public hates it

#331

Post by danaris »

atmavatar wrote: post #256
estimator7292 wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Non-violent means don't work and get you killed by cops. This is what the people are left with.

Non-violent protests do work, though they require you hit a critical mass to become effective. There even exists a 3.5% rule[1] in political science whereby authoritarian governments will topple if 3.5% of the population engages in nonviolent protest. One of the more famous examples here in the US is that of the equal rights marches in the 1960s ultimately leading to the end of segregation. What I'm not sure of, thou…

While I agree with your basic premise, that 3.5% "rule" is much more of an observed effect than an actual rule.

There needs to be an actual mechanism for the protests to bring about the fall of the authoritarian regime. Unfortunately, in our current context, a lot of the feedback mechanisms that should cause protests to change actual policy and affect the people in power are broken, largely due to the Republicans' efforts over the last several decades to eliminate accountability both from the actual institutions and as a valid concept in our national consciousness.

Re: The AI industry is discovering that the public hates it

#332

Post by simianwords »

beej71 wrote: post #303
teej wrote: post #74

ChatGPT has a billion users so surely not all of the public hates it

I use LLMs and I think they should be nuked from orbit. [Speaking figuratively, NSA.] Helpful, sure. Would humanity be better off without generative AI? Definitely.

> I think they should be nuked from orbit

This kind of hyperbloic stance amongst the broad public is sad concerning

Re: The AI industry is discovering that the public hates it

#333

Post by simianwords »

happytoexplain wrote: post #293
teej wrote: post #74

ChatGPT has a billion users so surely not all of the public hates it

Usage != positive feelings.

why? I think both generally track. And I won't appreciate category errors such as calling it similar to smoking

Re: The AI industry is discovering that the public hates it

#334

Post by keybored »

cortesoft wrote: post #98
keybored wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The first is the fear of job loss, and I feel like this is the most straightforward to deal with. Personally, I think the solution should be to share the productivity of AI with society at large, in particular since AI owes most of its abilities to training on the works of society. This is straightforward? This is a colossal task. Monumental. Billionaires own it. That’s the political status quo. You could build som…

'Straightfoward' as in there is a clear way to solve the issue, not that it will be easy to enact it.

Okay you’re right. In some sense of the word it is straightforward. But I still think it is not straightforward compared to most things.

I can get more muscle mass at the gym. That is straightforward. Only a few things makes it not easy.

But “share the productivity with society at large”... you have to collapse so many more variables.

- How to organize political resistance against AI tech billionaires

- How to not get co-opted by counter-measures by AI tech billionaires

- How to resist false promises (backed by nothing) that some AI tech billionaire will enact UBI for everyone so everything will be fine (those with all the power can withdraw whatever they want at any point)

- How to deal with white collar competition in the interim period before automation: everyone using AI and nodding along with it[1] just to not “fall behind”

- How to potentially fight against a small minority (AI tech billionaires) but that now might have enough megawatts to turn their stochastic parrots against any dissenters

And maybe more.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47904777

Re: The AI industry is discovering that the public hates it

#336

Post by watwut »

Legend2440 wrote: post #46
GOD_Over_Djinn wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it’s interesting that you choose to focus on this part of the situation. To me, it’s far more relevant that the general public has little, if any, recourse through legal means such as voting. This is what makes political violence inevitable, and some would say, fully justified.

This is just not true though; politicians in the US are highly receptive to voter demands. It's just that most voters don't agree with you.

They are receptive to some small minority of voters, not to the public. Overall public opinion is systematically at odds with what parties offer.

Re: The AI industry is discovering that the public hates it

#337

Post by keybored »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #129
cortesoft wrote: post #44

I feel like their are (at least) three main critiques of AI, and I wish we could debate them separately, because I think they each have different resolutions. The first is the fear of job loss, and I feel like this is the most straightforward to deal with. Personally, I think the solution should be to share the productivity of AI with society at large, in particular since AI owes most of its abilities to training on…

There is also a likeability problem. Altman and, shockingly, to a lesser degree, Musk have terrible brands. When folks see those people at the top of these companies, folks who have been publicly saying they're going to cause massive job losses and cause human extinction or whatnot, they're going to hate the companies irrespective of the actual risk of job losses or environmental impacts.

What a blessing that they don’t have an Obama frontman for their schemes.

Re: The AI industry is discovering that the public hates it

#338

Post by insane_dreamer »

cortesoft wrote: post #44

I feel like their are (at least) three main critiques of AI, and I wish we could debate them separately, because I think they each have different resolutions. The first is the fear of job loss, and I feel like this is the most straightforward to deal with. Personally, I think the solution should be to share the productivity of AI with society at large, in particular since AI owes most of its abilities to training on…

> The easiest way would be a straight tax on AI usage, and using that tax to pay a universal basic income. There are obviously a ton of variations on this idea, but I think the general premise of sharing the gains with everyone is sound. I don’t think many would complain if they lost their job but kept their income.

Nice, but completely unrealistic. The whole reason why AI is/will be adopted by companies like wildfire is to cut costs and increase profits. If they have to pay taxes equivalent to what they were paying in labor (or anywhere close to that), then AI is for nothing. Business will never agree to it. So this will never happen unless there is some sort of social revolution that completely remakes the system.

Re: The AI industry is discovering that the public hates it

#339

Post by insane_dreamer »

If the promise of AI is true, it will turn out to be the most socially and economically destructive force in the history of mankind. And yet, we're all being rushed headlong downstream without a clue of what's going to happen next, pushed by companies and investors driven by FOMO of not capturing the gains.

Re: The AI industry is discovering that the public hates it

#340

Post by insane_dreamer »

MBCook wrote: post #16

Are they? I heard a presentation from some pro-AI people on Friday to the large company I work at. They said they surveyed people at an AI conference and 93% of people were excited about it. This was said with a straight face like “people love puppies!”. No self awareness at all.

> They said they surveyed people at an AI conference and 93% of people were excited about it.

LOL. That's like saying 93% of people who go to Star Wars conventions like Star Wars.

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