I love this piece obviously, based on my glowing restack. I would add that some happy-go-lucky people who simply want contentment will be drawn -- are drawn-- to AI companions and are outsourcing simple family/community life to chatbots, snuggling up to the glow of their phone in a cozy dystopia.
I would say these people "won't care" in the sense that they are fat and happy cuddling with their virtual AI buddies.
Loved this article, would very much like to hear you expand upon your thoughts regarding "Ozempic incidentally killing your desire for everything" as someone currently taking it. Thank you.
Thanks for this! Helping me get ahead on my future plans, which will likely be pivoting towards blowing up AI data centers once my humanities degrees become obsolete
I think the true value in the universe comes from conscious beings like humans, so if it turns out technology has made our species unhappier over the course of civilization, I’m more inclined to say progress was a mistake. I don’t, however, believe that technology has made our species unhappier, so progress is probably good.
“You could tell them now that AGI won’t ever happen and they genuinely wouldn’t mind. Same thing with respect to going to Mars.”
I’m not a deontologist. I think the value of the stuff we create isn’t in the stuff itself, it’s in the way it interacts with humans. The feeling of progress and conquering a difficult challenge; the betterness you feel moving up the social ladder. These are what I want to protect, not the specific necessity and idea that “we must go to mars”. Failure and success matter, the goal does not, unless it affects human lives (which is, luckily, 99.999% of all goals).
Luckily, AGI could solve these issues forever, which is why it’s the most important thing happening on earth right now. It could also bungle things up greatly, and I know a few smart people who say the deck of possible progress may be so rigged against us there’s a very high chance we’ll all be paperclips. I am not e/acc but I do believe more people should be working on AI than any other field right now. I just wish they had the discipline to work on solving AI safety instead of making “the cool part” with the highest chance of getting rich come as soon as possible, safety be damned.
very dynamic read thank you! this is my first time seeing your page and you have a very interesting perspective and im glad i stumbled on it. i definitely feel this is a conversation that should definitely be revisited as we see how society interacts more and more with AGI. what do you think?
AGs ruin everything, it doesn’t even matter if they’re actually conscious or not—only if they are perceived as such. As pleasants become more cringe and AGs become better, less toxic humans, the world will become a more cringe and toxic place.
I love this piece obviously, based on my glowing restack. I would add that some happy-go-lucky people who simply want contentment will be drawn -- are drawn-- to AI companions and are outsourcing simple family/community life to chatbots, snuggling up to the glow of their phone in a cozy dystopia.
I would say these people "won't care" in the sense that they are fat and happy cuddling with their virtual AI buddies.
Loved this article, would very much like to hear you expand upon your thoughts regarding "Ozempic incidentally killing your desire for everything" as someone currently taking it. Thank you.
Thanks for this! Helping me get ahead on my future plans, which will likely be pivoting towards blowing up AI data centers once my humanities degrees become obsolete
I think the true value in the universe comes from conscious beings like humans, so if it turns out technology has made our species unhappier over the course of civilization, I’m more inclined to say progress was a mistake. I don’t, however, believe that technology has made our species unhappier, so progress is probably good.
“You could tell them now that AGI won’t ever happen and they genuinely wouldn’t mind. Same thing with respect to going to Mars.”
I’m not a deontologist. I think the value of the stuff we create isn’t in the stuff itself, it’s in the way it interacts with humans. The feeling of progress and conquering a difficult challenge; the betterness you feel moving up the social ladder. These are what I want to protect, not the specific necessity and idea that “we must go to mars”. Failure and success matter, the goal does not, unless it affects human lives (which is, luckily, 99.999% of all goals).
Luckily, AGI could solve these issues forever, which is why it’s the most important thing happening on earth right now. It could also bungle things up greatly, and I know a few smart people who say the deck of possible progress may be so rigged against us there’s a very high chance we’ll all be paperclips. I am not e/acc but I do believe more people should be working on AI than any other field right now. I just wish they had the discipline to work on solving AI safety instead of making “the cool part” with the highest chance of getting rich come as soon as possible, safety be damned.
very dynamic read thank you! this is my first time seeing your page and you have a very interesting perspective and im glad i stumbled on it. i definitely feel this is a conversation that should definitely be revisited as we see how society interacts more and more with AGI. what do you think?
AGs ruin everything, it doesn’t even matter if they’re actually conscious or not—only if they are perceived as such. As pleasants become more cringe and AGs become better, less toxic humans, the world will become a more cringe and toxic place.
It’s provocative and I respect that.