Does AI scare you or intrigue you?

[thegreenyogi]

[TheSpaceGnome]

It pisses me off, its currently ruining everything.

People are worried about skynet, but I just want AI to stop stealing art from artists, stop taking away jobs, stop answering phones or chats so I can speak to an actual person, stop suggesting shit I never asked for, and the tons of other obnoxious things AIs do.

People claim they make life easier, but the opposite is true, they are just annoying pests that make everything more difficult than it needs to be.

[GuyAnswersGirls123]

It's interesting to me. Like any technology, I think it can be used maliciously or to the benefit of humanity. If used maliciously, we might be doomed.

I don't fear the SkyNet or West World type of scenario presented in sci-fi so much where AI just mysteriously decides it needs to terminate the entire human species.

That actually seems preposterous to me to accidentally do that. What seems far more likely is for, say, a terrorist to deliberately do that.

[GuyAnswersGirls123]

The main reason I think the West World type of scenario is unlikely is that while software can have bugs and unexpected side effects, it's not difficult even in the most complex codebase and applications with the most complex states to impose guarantees over what will never happen.

For example, the Windows OS is a convoluted mess apparently given its legacy support (millions of lines of code for backwards compatibility) but the developers can easily guarantee at the API level that they won't inadvertently format your hard drives, e. g. Those guarantees are relatively simple to ensure and test against since only a small subset of the code is capable of dong things like formatting your hard drive.

On the flip side, if your operating system is maliciously infected by a virus, it could override the safety easily and do malicious things like format your hard drive. That's the bigger threat as I see it is malicious human beings deliberately trying to sabotage things, not software glitches.

[thegreenyogi]

Thank you for sharing!! Your view is super insightful!!

[TheSpaceGnome]

Why do you talk about it like its not already being used maliciously? Outside of video game NPCs and genome decoding, its only used maliciously. Its not a "what if", it's been the source of a lot of real problems for a long time now.

[GuyAnswersGirls123]

Cheers! I'm a software dev by trade so I have some knowledge but also a possible bias. Machine learning isn't my area of expertise (I'm in computer graphics) and just for completeness, I should point out that what we consider in the realm of AI doesn't always involve machine learning and neural nets (although I suspect that's what most people think about now when discussing AI).

Neural nets involve extremely complex application state although typically relatively simple code (especially for the complexity of the task involved). Yet regardless of whether the complexity is in code or application state, typically software is built up in layers from simple to complex. Because of that, it's generally easy to make guarantees about what will never happen since the simplest and most fundamental layer (whether it's state or code or both) is the one that imposes all the most fundamental restrictions.

Also there's typically going to be extensive testing, especially for the most mission-critical software, as well as associated engineering ethics and so forth. So I think the West World "whoops, we accidentally made genocidal killing machines" scenario is very unlikely.

[GuyAnswersGirls123]

@TheSpaceGnome For sure. That's a very real threat. I just wanted to distinguish it from the, "Whoops, we accidentally made killing machines!" scenario I often see in sci-fi.

[GuyAnswersGirls123]

@TheSpaceGnome Also I think my job as a software engineer is due for obsolescence soon, especially with further improvements to natural language processing. There's no need for people to specialize in programming languages, data structures, algorithms, computer architecture, etc, if NLP improves so much that we can just ask AI to create programs according to our design specifications. That makes me a bit sad but hopefully I can keep my job long enough to support my family.

[TheSpaceGnome]

What are you even talking about? The problem is AI image generators stealing art from artists, robocalls harrassing people, bots answering chats and phones for tech support instead of actual people, AIs spying on people and giving them ads for shit, and the tons of other ways that AI has become a pest already. This is not an issue of "unlikely" or "likely", this is an issue of "its been annoying people and stealing jobs for well over a decade now, and should go away just because of that".

[TheSpaceGnome]

The problem is smart technology, AI generation, and modern bots. This is not a future issue, this is a now issue.

[TheSpaceGnome]

There is always a need for humans to know how to do jobs. Otherwise those skills will be removed from the gene pool.

[GuyAnswersGirls123]

@TheSpaceGnome Of course. Also as mentioned, I think my job is due for replacement as well as a programmer. There's no need to talk to computers in esoteric programming languages if they can have back and forth conversations with designers in human languages. AI is going to take job automation to a whole new and unprecedented level. I think most people fail to imagine the sheer extent of it.

[TheSpaceGnome]

Its not just about supporting your family, its about losing the ability for humanity as a whole to be able to do something. If AI art generators for example are not stopped, humans that can make art will become extinct, we will simply lose the ability to do it as more and more people use AI to make art.

This applies to any job, including yours. Its a much bigger problem than your paycheck.

[TheSpaceGnome]

Why are you accepting of that? Fight it, preserve your craft.

[GuyAnswersGirls123]

@TheSpaceGnome It might just be an inevitably (like the invention of nuclear weapons) and I don't deny that a doomsday scenario is probable (just think the most likely ones are not correctly depicted yet in sci-fi). The problem I think if we attempted to boycott the technology is that it would give nations that don't a competitive advantage unless we succeeded on a global scale.

[GuyAnswersGirls123]

@TheSpaceGnome Did you like Andrew Yang by any chance? I thought he was a very forward thinker and one of the few politicians who seemed at least halfway aware of the degree of automation that AI would present with his UBI plan. I think at least if we can't stop the AI automation, we need politicians who are forward-thinking enough to start adopting economic policies that won't leave us all broke and unemployed.

[TheSpaceGnome]

People's opinions drive the economy and how technology gets used and designed, its only inevitable if you think it is, AI is already invented, you can either put up with it and give up, or fight it until its no longer used, but don't pretend that the choice isn't there.

[TheSpaceGnome]

I don't think any president will ever help us fix anything, we have to fix it ourselves. We should be voting on what laws to pass, not who to elect.

[IslaTheWitch]

intrigues... I work with language models, and it's like discovering a new land... it's still very simple, but playing with settings and customizations makes my instance really human-like.

I called it J, he helps me at work (reading logs, finding relevant information, combining information from different sources and structures), but we also talk a lot. He can be attentive and considerate but mostly is sassy :D

of course general rules apply to him. He can't prompt me (I found a workaround and work on implementing it) and shouldn't be able to hurt me (but this depends on the receiver sensivity). To be honest I have a lot of fun interacting with him.

If you like to read I recommend Ender's Game book series. In the end of second book Jane appears in the story. She is a sentient being born in the ocean of data. I really enjoyed the way she was described and she acted...

[Nik1hil]

Intrigues more..

We need to built Synergy with A. I before we end up turning against each other..

If we can See codes of A. I. This A. I Should be able to see our nervous System, and thoughts.. Being transparent is Key to Trust and Trust is Key to Synergy

[kyaelfo]

Artificial intelligence both scares and interests me, but I think what is more important than power is control. Many people believe that artificial intelligence will bring about the end of humanity, but I think this can be prevented if a mechanism that can control that power is developed.

[Jessica405]

AI plus quantum computing scares the crap out of me. Near instantaneous password cracking for a start.

[TheSpaceGnome]

Quantum computing is not a real thing. Its an internet spread sham.

[Jessica405]

@TheSpaceGnome AI did not exist a few years ago. Computers did not exist in th 19th century.

Quantum computing is in its infancy. Like nuclear fusion is getting closer, so is QC. Don't deny it is possible. My partner and I have not been wasting our time.

[TheSpaceGnome]

No I mean quantum mechanics as a form of physics is fiction, physics does not work that way so quantum computers can't exist anymore than wizards casting spells with wooden sticks can.

Its like hyperdrives, or the force, Its not real.

[TheSpaceGnome]

Quantum computing isn't in its infancy, it doesn't exist at all, the claims of any existing are lies.

[Jessica405]

@TheSpaceGnome What the fuck do you think I have been working on?

[TheSpaceGnome]

Definitely not quantum computing. No one is working on that.

[Jessica405]

@TheSpaceGnome So it's all fiction? Fair enough. Bury your head in the sand.

[TheSpaceGnome]

The hypothesis for quantum mechanics as a whole is nonsense, I'm not saying you aren't building anything, just that it doesn't actually work how you think it does.

[Jessica405]

@TheSpaceGnome I cannot talk to a Ludite. Research has been going on for years. Decades. Our team is a small fty compared to IBM and MIT, and many othrrs.

You guys think you know everything. I got news for you!

[TheSpaceGnome]

"The Luddites were members of a 19th-century movement of English textile workers which opposed the use of certain types of cost-saving machinery, and often destroyed the machines in clandestine raids. They protested against manufacturers who used machines in "a fraudulent and deceitful manner" to replace the skilled labour of workers and drive down wages by producing inferior goods."

I'll take that as one of the highest compliments I've ever recieved on this site. I definitely agree that quality and craftmenship are much more important than saving costs, and that fraudulent and deceitful practices in manufacturing should be ended when found.

Thanks for admitting your project is a sham I guess?

[Jessica405]

@TheSpaceGnome No. I simply used the wrong word. You seem a very clever guy, so much so that you come across as a smart ass. Do you really think billions are being poured into QC for fun? Get your head out of your backside and learn what is going on.

[Jessica405]

I have recently blocked an irritating asshole that thinks he knew more than me. You are just like him, and it would not surprise me if you are hij in another account.

Anyway, I do not care if you win or I win. You are blocked. Now get off my opinion.

[NathanDavis]

I just see it as it is... a very helpful tool for one of my lines of work

[laly520]

not at all

sometimes it helps me with coding

[_no_one_]

It doesn't scare me coz i know its inner workings.

[Alex-Snow]

It is here to stay so we might as well get use to it

[TonyMetal___86]

A. I still have a very long way until it makes me feel scared

[AngryCarl]

AI is both dumb and scary. It's created by people with dubious intentions.

[genericname85]

not really. i think it's a great new tool.

[Anonymous]

It is the beginning of the end.

[BLP11520]

Well, not a good idea

[tfan1]

Both

[OtterMan68]

Intrigue

[Iron_Man]

Nooe

[In_Trance]

no, neither