AI, Great Friend or Dangerous Foe?

[DadSmith]

 

[jamil]

Probably fake but funny.

 

[BJHay]

I think the answer is both.
My biggest concern is that it will allow for much more effective monitoring of civilian activity.

 

[BJHay]

If your position can be replaced by automation, AI, or foreign labor, you need to learn a new skill.

We can complain about it, but you're not putting this genie back in the bottle.

We've seen this many times in history. Technological advancement ends one work category but creates others. I read about the woodcutters guild in England being terrified that the steam saw would put them out of work.
The Longshoreman's Union fought hard against the move from loose-loaded freight to the use of shipping containers. The shipping container has had a huge impact on the world but the longshoreman came out OK.

 

[Ingomike]

We've seen this many times in history. Technological advancement ends one work category but creates others. I read about the woodcutters guild in England being terrified that the steam saw would put them out of work.
The Longshoreman's Union fought hard against the move from loose-loaded freight to the use of shipping containers. The shipping container has had a huge impact on the world but the longshoreman came out OK.

Yep, we can all be slaves to AI.

Please list all the jobs AI is creating. I haven’t seen that type of list yet. Better still, have AI create it for you…

 

[firecadet613]

The Longshoreman's Union fought hard against the move from loose-loaded freight to the use of shipping containers. The shipping container has had a huge impact on the world but the longshoreman came out OK.

I'd wager to guess since they now load containers onto ships vs loose loaded freight, there are a LOT less longshoreman?

 

[ZurokSlayer7X9]

We've seen this many times in history. Technological advancement ends one work category but creates others. I read about the woodcutters guild in England being terrified that the steam saw would put them out of work.
The Longshoreman's Union fought hard against the move from loose-loaded freight to the use of shipping containers. The shipping container has had a huge impact on the world but the longshoreman came out OK.

At the risk of sounding like a "Doomsayer", given the potential larger implications here, this is a different situation than the technological paradigm shifts in the past. As mentioned before, soon AI will likely have the capability of being able to perform any job more effectively and efficiently than any human. Machines and AI are not constrained by biological limitations, and can be designed in any form imaginable constrained by what is practically feasible as well as the laws of physics. Given that their form is more malleable, there is a likely possibility they will evolve faster than what we can adapt to.

As of right now, many contractor level blue collar jobs (plumbers, electricians, carpenters, trades, etc.) are somewhat safe simply because we don't have T-100s swinging hammers and turning wrenches. However I do not believe that will last because of the obsession for efficiency. I guarantee you that tomorrow if one of us created a T-100 capable of swinging a hammer, working a saw, or fitting a pipe, it would send shockwaves as many companies would take notice. Why hire human workers and deal with those pesky trade unions when you can have a fleet of T-100s that work practically 24/7 with no overtime, worker's comp, always on time with no family or drug issues? To an executive obsessed with efficiency, that would be the far better option.

Where would that leave most of humanity in this possible outcome? Some futurists suggest that would leave us to pursue more creative goals now that we wouldn't have to deal with the more menial tasks of working for the sweat off our brow. Some very well could live that type of life, however I'm not sure that would work for most people. There is a reason some people leave retirement to go back to work that is unrelated to financial issues. I personally know several old timers who went back to work despite being near millionaires, simply because they need to work. I personally conjecture man needs to have their time occupied with something meaningful, or else they can wither away in the dark pits of nihilism and apathy. Maybe things would be different if we had galaxy class cruisers exploring different star systems and such, but I don't see that happening anytime soon.

What I believe a more likely scenario would be is that society falls into a neo-feudalism system, where the executives and controllers stay in their Elysium-esque ivory towers while the masses are ensured a sort of universal based income (assuming they are good boys and girls) where everyone is on equally sh***y footing.

The examples of technological progression in the past was different because they never threatened what made man the master of the food chain - out intellect and reason. The cotton gin, steam shovel, powered saw, etc. couldn't run themselves. This is a different can o' worms. AI will likely eventually have the capability to run itself, self heal, self maintain, and self modify all without becoming sentient or self aware as some suggest. In other words, what happens now that we have an entity that outstrips us when it comes to what gave us mastery over this world?

I'll end this with saying the future is anything but written. I believe there will be a time where technology maybe regresses (perhaps due to geo-political factors, and/or cataclysmic reasons), and we'll be forced to a simpler time. I don't know.

 

[BE Mike]

"It's coming near you!"

 

[BE Mike]

When AI digs wells, makes irrigation systems, plows, plants, fertilizes, sprays and harvest crops, then it will have been one of the greatest things for mankind, especially third world countries. Every technological advance has it's benefits and drawbacks. The invention of he automobile has seen many great benefits, yet there are over 100 fatalities every day in the USA, involving autos.

 

[Ingomike]

When AI digs wells, makes irrigation systems, plows, plants, fertilizes, sprays and harvest crops, then it will have been one of the greatest things for mankind, especially third world countries. Every technological advance has its benefits and drawbacks. The invention of he automobile has seen many great benefits, yet there are over 100 fatalities every day in the USA, involving autos.

Approach one: Why would AI need to do any of those things? Those are all human for human needs.

Approach two: Why can’t AI do most of those things? Only because humans have not totally let them off the leash. Most modern crop farming is a GPS program that follows the shape and contour of the land while increasing or decreasing the amount of fertilizer or insecticide needed for specific parts of the fields.

Are you saying that if we wanted to program it all together AI couldn’t read the maps to determine where the well needed to be, dispatch the self driving drill rig, that drills the well?

I ask these questions because I hope folks are pondering them and the ramifications…

 

[BE Mike]

Are you saying that if we wanted to program it all together AI couldn’t read the maps to determine where the well needed to be, dispatch the self driving drill rig, that drills the well?

Not at all. I'm saying that eliminating the human element would be better, as long as, AI would do these things without question. AI wouldn't have to read maps (even we don't use them anymore) and would know exactly where to dig wells. The AI driven robot slaves would do all the hard work.