This AI stuff is SCARY!!!

[SpriggsySpriggs]

Indeed.

[Dimster]

Eliza, now there was Chatbot. Straighten out my schizophrenia once married to PARRY.

If you consider the data AI's are being trained on as ever evolving and not static, for example the ongoing break though(s) in science, medicine, computers & chips, astrology ... you name the topic and some brilliant thinker will expand our knowledge on it ... so for AI not to progress we need everyone to stop thinking and stop wondering and stop exchanging ideas.

And it's not just AI that has a potential to evolve to something greater but humans are likely not going to be the same. Robotics hold out an interesting solution to the future survival of the human race. We already are planning to occupy the moon and mars and plan for the spread of the human race through out the universe. The present work on improving our genes, neuralink and robotic prosthesis should help human kind work and live in space.

As the Technological Determinist like to say " You can't stop progress".

[Pete]

Ah yes, but you folks are forgetting the power of filters. AI developers are constantly increasing and improving the filters for the stream of "human" data that passes through an AI system. That reminds me, I need to get my prostate checked. Can someone please tell this poor "Boomer" how to take a shower, before my exam?

Pete

[SpriggsySpriggs]

Eliza, now there was Chatbot. Straighten out my schizophrenia once married to PARRY.

If you consider the data AI's are being trained on as ever evolving and not static, for example the ongoing break though(s) in science, medicine, computers & chips, astrology ... you name the topic and some brilliant thinker will expand our knowledge on it ... so for AI not to progress we need everyone to stop thinking and stop wondering and stop exchanging ideas.

And it's not just AI that has a potential to evolve to something greater but humans are likely not going to be the same. Robotics hold out an interesting solution to the future survival of the human race. We already are planning to occupy the moon and mars and plan for the spread of the human race through out the universe. The present work on improving our genes, neuralink and robotic prosthesis should help human kind work and live in space.

As the Technological Determinist like to say " You can't stop progress".

Mars is a ridiculous goal. "Let's go colonize this barren wasteland that is incapable of supporting mankind rather than invest that same money in keeping this planet, which is lush and capable of supporting mankind, in good shape".

For AI to continue progressing, they have to keep it from digesting AI generated content. But it is digesting this content. And it will keep doing so, the more content gets generated. Eventually, it will be more trained on content generated by LLMs than created by man.

Robotics appeals to liberal art majors with a Deviantart/tumblr portfolio because they want to survive as artists in their Communist utopia rather than have to get a real job. They think their furry art is as valuable as a mechanic's service. Robotics is mostly being used to replace human labor to cut down on costs. It isn't being used to make some crazy robot astronaut that will explore the outer reaches of space for us. As for neuralink and whatnot, I really don't trust a man who makes a car that can't survive a car wash to create a safe brain implant.

On improving our genes... You really want them messing with our genes? The same scientists and governments who handled the Kung Flu?

Also, I'll assume you meant astronomy and not astrology.

[Pete]

Oh I hope Dim meant astrology, then my AI fortune teller can tell me when the Great Termination begins!

AI is already doing online therapy. That pretty much equates to a mishmash rendering from available self-help books. Too lazy to read? No problem, ChatFraiser is listening.

Now we don't have to worry about AI replacing lawyers, because bots aren't Kosher.

Teachers should be worried. AI was smart enough 5 years ago to replace most of them. Thanks ChatPhD!

And Spriggsy, thanks for the heads up on the Tesla car wash incident. I'll be sure to ask Alexa to remind me not to get my hair washed when I get my brain implant. I ordered the DIY kit... hey, free shipping... that's AMAZING!

Pete

[Dimster]

Yes I did mean astrology as in "any topic" will have some human coming up with clever ways to expand the knowledge or application, even car washes of the near future with radar to guide in those flying cars.

[SMcNeill]

In my opinion, AI is simply nothing more than a means to organize existing human knowledge, much like an encyclopedia, wiki, or google search.  I don't see it ever being able to do the all important human task of saying, "What if..."  or  "How about..."

The reason human technology is expanding so fast nowadays is due to people asking those questions.

"What if, instead of gasoline, we could power our vehicles with cow farts?!"

"How about we see what happens if we mount microwaves in a car, instead of just including a normal dash compartment which nobody ever uses!"

People propose and try the dumbest things -- many even to the point of blowing themselves up or dying in some insane manner -- but AI doesn't have the drive or imagination to do that.  All it can do is take a look at what people have already did, study it, and then work on replicating it.  It lacks that spark of creativity to push the boundaries to innovate or imagine anything new.  You might ask AI, "How do I build a bridge over my creek that would be safe to drive a ten ton tractor and wagon over?"  It'd be able to answer that, as it could look up existing designs and specifications and rules and such, and toss you a solution.

Ask it, "How do I build a rocket to travel to the next star in our solar system," and it'll simply say, "I'm sorry.  That's impossible.  Current technology doesn't allow for travel anywhere near the speed of light and the nearest star is several light years away from us."  It doesn't try to push the boundaries by seeing if a balloon filled with muskrat farts might be able to do the job.  Sure, most of us might laugh and talk about how crazy the nutcase is who's trying to do such a thing, but it might be their research in refining farts to produce rocket fuel that becomes the building block of science which eventually reshapes travel across the world and throughout space itself.

AI will never replace humanity just because it'll never have the spark to ask "Why?" itself.  It might answer our questions, but in doing so, it'll only answer with the answers which we've already determined as a society.  You could ask any AI today if slavery was acceptable and it'd immediately breakdown and cry and tell you how horrible even asking such a question is.  Ask any AI that was trained and learned only on books and history from 200 years ago, and it'd scoff at you as if you were stupid.  "Of course it's acceptable.  Blah blah percent of people own slaves and slaves are an essential part of the economic and defense forces... To get rid of them would....  Don't be stupid....  Blah blah blah..."

AI is just a reflection of the information it was trained on.  It's not an innovator, a dreamer, or an inventor.  It's nothing more than another tool like Google Search  -- it's just an overlay of makeup on that old pig, in an attempt to make it look prettier and new for the public to invest in.

[SpriggsySpriggs]

Human technology is going to plateau at some point. You can only make something so fast, so efficient, so powerful, etc. And the more reliant we become on AI and tools like it, the less likely we are to think for ourselves and come up with these innovative questions.

[Dimster]

I hope you guys are right to under estimate AI, its has no feelings or sense of awareness yet, and here's hoping it will always be dumber than humans but there are a couple of things happening right now which has me thinking we can't under estimate it ... the first is money, as long as there is more money to be made by advancing AI to its greatest potential then it will become a thinker and doer of all things... the other matter has two parts to it which I feel are intertwined, energy and computing power. If we get a working quantum computer powered by fusion then by 2040 someone will be richer than hell with that computing power.

[madscijr]

The benefit of ai could be that it improves a person's memory recall (think 100% photographic memory) and reasoning ability (if it could allow us to detach from our emotions and temporarily think logically like the Vulcans on Star Trek). I think improving a person's memory is a big one. 

The danger and downside of any computer technology is that it can be hacked, or have hidden programming for someone's secret agenda. Especially if it uses a brain computer interface - do we really want to trust someone putting a computer in our brain? One day you're superman with superhuman memory recall, and the next thing you know, someone has taken control of your body and speech so you can't even scream help (ever see the movie "Get Out"?)

Nefarious purposes aside, if a tech prosthesis can give a living thing improved memory recall and logical reasoning, you could theoretically fit a grasshopper, a dog, or any living thing with it, and it would be a conscious living being and be intelligent and able to learn and use language.

But back to the original problem, which is that this stuff is developed by powerful governments and corporations who aren't interested in empowering just anyone. They have always been about looking out for #1 and exploiting everyone else. Problem #2 is rogue employees looking to embed their own secret back doors into these systems, to use for personal gain.

Welcome to the 21st century!