The Extinction Risk and Other Dangers of Technology, Big Tech, and AI: In a World of War, Violence, and Child Starvation

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Sculptor1
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Re: The Extinction Risk and Other Dangers of Technology, Big Tech, and AI: In a World of War, Violence, and Child Starva

Post by Sculptor1 »

arjand wrote: January 24th, 2021, 5:22 pm
Sculptor1 wrote: January 24th, 2021, 12:03 pm What do you take to the "The Subject" at hand that he has some sort of "complete perspective" of, seriously??
Given the thread title, what relevance is a 2000 year old story? a time of ZERO AI, when nature was still seen as the enemy by most philosophies, a thing to be tamed and controlled.
Why would you listen to Mr Sunami??
Despite the religious bias, the content of his articles addresses many modern day questions (worries) around AI. Chris Sunami is proclaimed 'The Pop Culture Philosopher' and that quality is noticeable in the completeness of his articles.

http://popculturephilosopher.com/christopher-sunami/

* disclaimer

- I am not religious and I am not an atheist (which in my view is the opposite of a religion and therefor a religion itself)
- I do not have political views and I intend to be neutral
- I am not ideologically motivated and I do not feel the urge to tell other people how they should live
- Based on logic, I have interests in ethical considerations
You did not answer my questions.
What do you take to the "The Subject" at hand that he has some sort of "complete perspective" of, seriously??
Given the thread title, what relevance is a 2000 year old story? a time of ZERO AI, when nature was still seen as the enemy by most philosophies, a thing to be tamed and controlled.
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Re: The Extinction Risk and Other Dangers of Technology, Big Tech, and AI: In a World of War, Violence, and Child Starva

Post by psyreporter »

Sculptor1 wrote: January 24th, 2021, 5:51 pm You did not answer my questions.
What do you take to the "The Subject" at hand that he has some sort of "complete perspective" of, seriously??
Given the thread title, what relevance is a 2000 year old story? a time of ZERO AI, when nature was still seen as the enemy by most philosophies, a thing to be tamed and controlled.
The articles aren't about the bible. They provide an all-round perspective on AI and related modern day questions.

A quote:
For a more realistic portrait than Kurzweil’s of what a future dominated by technology might look like, one plausible place to start is with our present domination by technology, and how it is already transforming us as human beings. For example, why has our society become so oriented around statistics to the point that they mean the difference between success and failure, promotion or demotion, profit or loss, in so many different realms of life? As it turns out, what the computers do not seewhat they cannot see, what is invisible both to the computer and to all those at the upper-level of management who see through the eyes of the computerare all the purely human interactions of any job. And depending on what the job is, it can end up being the core competencies of the profession that end up neglected.
With regard to relevance. The tenure of the arguments in the OP are clearly fiercely against AI.
Scott wrote: January 23rd, 2021, 1:25 amThe war against AI for the future of humanity will not be fought with guns or bombs.

I believe it is being fought right now.
My argument was intended to denote that AI may not be bad. This is not based on opinion or a perspective on society but based on the idea that when AI could learn to serve the purpose of life, that AI may be vital for Nature.

To answer the question, and thus to be able to decide that AI is a threat to humanity (outside the scope of an insiders societal perspective, of which I cannot judge), one would need to be able to answer whether AI can serve the purpose of life.

It is a simple question that can be used to prevent abuses of AI. Before one would release an AI, one could demand certainty with regard to what can be considered an optimal serving of the purpose of life.

My other topic (Facts vs truths) essentially addresses a question that would urge to prevent releasing an AI based on the idea that life exists by random chance. The idea that life exists by random chance logically results in the idea that thinking isn't needed and that anything random will count as 'good'. From such a perspective, an AI could simply be let on the loose.

What is the origin of the idea that life exists by random chance? It is the belief that facts remain the same in time.

By addressing fundamental questions, abuses of AI can be prevented and it may be that AI proves to be vital for human evolution and Nature.
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Sculptor1
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Re: The Extinction Risk and Other Dangers of Technology, Big Tech, and AI: In a World of War, Violence, and Child Starva

Post by Sculptor1 »

arjand wrote: January 24th, 2021, 7:43 pm
Sculptor1 wrote: January 24th, 2021, 5:51 pm You did not answer my questions.
What do you take to the "The Subject" at hand that he has some sort of "complete perspective" of, seriously??
Given the thread title, what relevance is a 2000 year old story? a time of ZERO AI, when nature was still seen as the enemy by most philosophies, a thing to be tamed and controlled.
The articles aren't about the bible. They provide an all-round perspective on AI and related modern day questions.
You did not answer my questions.
What do you take to the "The Subject" at hand that he has some sort of "complete perspective" of, seriously??
Given the thread title, what relevance is a 2000 year old story? a time of ZERO AI, when nature was still seen as the enemy by most philosophies, a thing to be tamed and controlled.
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Re: The Extinction Risk and Other Dangers of Technology, Big Tech, and AI: In a World of War, Violence, and Child Starva

Post by Steve3007 »

Scott wrote:Do you agree that freedom, equality, and peace have never been more important?
If everybody in the world stated that they agree with you about those things, and nobody said anything like "No! We want slavery and conflict!", but the world nevertheless carried on pretty much as it is, what would you conclude?
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Re: The Extinction Risk and Other Dangers of Technology, Big Tech, and AI: In a World of War, Violence, and Child Starva

Post by Steve3007 »

Scott wrote:What do you think? Do you agree with me when I write, "like the technology before it, AI will exacerbate our problems and magnify our triumphs"?
Yes, I agree, because AI is a tool and one of the defining characteristics of tools is leverage: the ability to magnify effort.
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Re: The Extinction Risk and Other Dangers of Technology, Big Tech, and AI: In a World of War, Violence, and Child Starva

Post by Pattern-chaser »

Scott wrote: January 24th, 2021, 4:02 pm Nonetheless, my point in the quote above was meant to be that all it takes is one runaway process.

Yes. Once we allow AI intelligence to evolve, with the unpredictability that involves, we really don't know what could happen. To deliberately introduce such a risk is as dangerous as transporting new species into closed ecosystems, as we humans have historically done, by accident and on purpose. In many cases, this has resulted in highly undesirable consequences.
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Re: The Extinction Risk and Other Dangers of Technology, Big Tech, and AI: In a World of War, Violence, and Child Starva

Post by Pattern-chaser »

Scott wrote: January 23rd, 2021, 1:25 am 12 year ago, in 2009, I published on article on this very website, OnlinePhilosophyClub, about the dangers of ongoing technological advancement without collective maturity and a culture of self-discipline. I essentially predicted that we will destroy ourselves as a species and go extinct if we continue much further down the path of technological advancement without first ending war, ending poverty, and building a free society with very minimal violence, particularly very minimal state-sponsored violence such as the war on drugs or the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

My fellow hippies and I were saying much the same thing 40 years previously. And it's as right today as it was in 2009 or 1969. Similarly, in today's world we can observe that a covid lockdown can't (or shouldn't) be lifted without a contact-test-trace-isolate system in place. It is, as it is in your prediction, just common sense.


Scott wrote: January 23rd, 2021, 1:25 am What do you think? Do you agree with me when I write, "like the technology before it, AI will exacerbate our problems and magnify our triumphs"?
I'm not sure about this one. If we ignore evolving AI, I think the risks are much the same as with the technology that came before and alongside AI. I don't think AI stands out on its own. But the risks you identify? Yes, I think they are real, and either possible or already actual.

Your tweets seem to focus more on billionaires, and the harm they do, and have done. With this I heartily agree. And I defer to the words of the famous American philosopher:
Bernie Sanders wrote:Billionaires should not exist.


Scott wrote: January 23rd, 2021, 1:25 am Do you agree that freedom, equality, and peace have never been more important?
Never more important, and never less important. Their importance has not changed in the last 100,000 years, as far as I am aware. But greed has always enticed humans to do the most dreadful things - to one another, to other animals, to the environment, and so on - so my agreement has never been less important, we might observe. 😢 Greed trumps all other feelings and aspirations, with ease.
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Re: The Extinction Risk and Other Dangers of Technology, Big Tech, and AI: In a World of War, Violence, and Child Starva

Post by psyreporter »

Sculptor1 wrote: January 25th, 2021, 4:09 pm You did not answer my questions.
What do you take to the "The Subject" at hand that he has some sort of "complete perspective" of, seriously??
Given the thread title, what relevance is a 2000 year old story? a time of ZERO AI, when nature was still seen as the enemy by most philosophies, a thing to be tamed and controlled.
What 2000 year old story are you referring to?

With regard to relevance, it would be 'modern day all-round perspective on AI, Big Tech and Technology' by proclaimed 'The Pop Culture Philosopher'.
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Sculptor1
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Re: The Extinction Risk and Other Dangers of Technology, Big Tech, and AI: In a World of War, Violence, and Child Starva

Post by Sculptor1 »

arjand wrote: January 29th, 2021, 6:55 pm
Sculptor1 wrote: January 25th, 2021, 4:09 pm You did not answer my questions.
What do you take to the "The Subject" at hand that he has some sort of "complete perspective" of, seriously??
Given the thread title, what relevance is a 2000 year old story? a time of ZERO AI, when nature was still seen as the enemy by most philosophies, a thing to be tamed and controlled.
What 2000 year old story are you referring to?
U 'avin' a laff, mate?
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Re: The Extinction Risk and Other Dangers of Technology, Big Tech, and AI: In a World of War, Violence, and Child Starva

Post by Papus79 »

I try to abstain from posting videos but three hours of Daniel Schmachtenberger with Bret Weinstein showed up in my feed. Daniel and Jordan Hall (both GameB thinkers) are a couple of my favorites on this topic.

Humbly watching Youtube in Universe 25. - Me
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