A thread for unboxing AI
The rapid progression of AI chatbots made me think that we need a thread devoted to a discussion of the impact that AI i
I have some family in town this week. My wife's daughter's husband (I think I have that right) sells software to government agencies and large corporations. He's a sales guy, not a tech guy. I asked him what role AI is playing now.
He used to rely on his tech team to work up things in the software that he wanted it to do to address issues the prospective customers might ask about. Guess what, he does it himself now with AI. Takes him hours to do what used to take days/weeks.
Suppose Canada replaced all their workers with robots, went socialist and.distributed all the goods to the people like now. They just wouldn't have to work. That would have zero impact on the economic life of Americans. Same goes with whatever sort of tech fiefdoms these billionaires might create for themselves.
Mental impact is another thing. It just cuts against our moral fabric when we have what for all intents is an idle class. But that's more of an imagined loss of what we could have and control if we owned all the wealth instead of the wealthy. At the end of the day the people aren't losing something they had or were in any way entitled to.
Suppose Canada replaced all their workers with robots, went socialist and.distributed all the goods to the people like now. They just wouldn't have to work. That would have zero impact on the economic life of Americans. Same goes with whatever sort of tech fiefdoms these billionaires might create for themselves.
People who talk about existing populations suddenly walking into this huge inheritance of luxury living thanks to AI are living in cloud cuckoo land.
By far the most likely outcome is that current millionaires will want to become billionaires, and current billionaires will want to become trillionaires, and "unproductive" people will disappear surprisingly quickly.
People who talk about existing populations suddenly walking into this huge inheritance of luxury living thanks to AI are living in cloud cuckoo land.
By far the most likely outcome is that current millionaires will want to become billionaires, and current billionaires will want to become trillionaires, and "unproductive" people will disappear surprisingly quickly.
I don't think AI is likely to diminish wealth inequlity in any absolute sense. I could see a a relatively near term future in which AI raises the standard of living for the poorest citizens of countries like the United States, but only to a level that covers the basics.
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People who talk about existing populations suddenly walking into this huge inheritance of luxury living thanks to AI are living in cloud cuckoo land.
By far the most likely outcome is that current millionaires will want to become billionaires, and current billionaires will want to become trillionaires, and "unproductive" people will disappear surprisingly quickly.
Fairly conservatively, we're likely to see a productivity increase from where we were 200 years ago to today. What's coming is probably as unimaginable to us as our world would be to people 200 years ago.
As far as the trillionaires go, well, robber barons don't fare too well in these parts. We put up with crap from our politicians I guess because technically we could elect different ones. The self proclaimed king thing won't go over too well. And we seem to take particular joy in seeing the once mighty fall.
Fairly conservatively, we're likely to see a productivity increase from where we were 200 years ago to today. What's coming is probably as unimaginable to us as our world would be to people 200 years ago. As far as the trillionaires go, well, robber barons don't fare too well in these parts. We put up with crap from our politicians I guess because technically we could elect dif
By the time people wake up, the surveillance state will make today look like nothing and you can be damn sure robot "security" is a top priority for the ruling class.
It's going to take some big hacks to turn the tide.
By the time people wake up, the surveillance state will make today look like nothing and you can be damn sure robot "security" is a top priority for the ruling class.
It's going to take some big hacks to turn the tide.
That would happen in a purely democratic or socialist state too. Coupled with the latest tech, lone actors or small groups will be able to cause mass deaths. So the people will demand and put up with all that extra surveillance for their own security.
That would happen in a purely democratic or socialist state too. Coupled with the latest tech, lone actors or small groups will be able to cause mass deaths. So the people will demand and put up with all that extra surveillance for their own security.
What I meant is the surveillance is implemented by the ruling class to help prevent those lone actors acting whatever l against them.
Of course it will be sold as protection of the general population from electronic isis or something.
If there were a “ruling class” controlling everything, it’s hard to imagine they would’ve allowed the creation of an open, global internet in the first place, especially one that’s empowered dissidents, whistleblowers, independent media, and mass coordination. The internet has disrupted governments, corporations, intelligence agencies... pretty much every power structure. That doesn’t look like something designed to control the masses.
If there were a “ruling class” controlling everything, it’s hard to imagine they would’ve allowed the creation of an open, global internet in the first place, especially one that’s empowered dissidents, whistleblowers, independent media, and mass coordination. The internet has disrupted governments, corporations, intelligence agencies... pretty much every power structure. That
Suppose Canada replaced all their workers with robots, went socialist and.distributed all the goods to the people like now. They just wouldn't have to work. That would have zero impact on the economic life of Americans. Same goes with whatever sort of tech fiefdoms these billionaires might create for themselves.
That's like saying the english can have their industrial revolution if they want. Wont effect the rest of the world.
(Not that there's any chance whatsoever of the usa not automating the value of jobs away.)
That's like saying the english can have their industrial revolution if they want. Wont effect the rest of the world.
That's because they were taking resources from the rest of the world. For all we know, the Canadians may already be doing that and just keeping it quiet. It just doesn't matter to the rest of us since they're not depriving us from doing whatever we planned on doing anyway and creating our own wealth.
(Not that there's any chance whatsoever of the usa not automating the value of jobs away.)
Just the opposite: it's the value of capital that will get automated away. The value of wealth or capital comes entirely from the surplus value of labor it extracts from production. So once human labor is removed from production, capital becomes worthless. Marx thought things could get nasty then. But not by capitalists trying to replace humans. Rather he thought the opposite--that they'll attempt to prevent the workers from getting squeezed out of the equation and along with it the value of their wealth.
That actually makes sense. It would also make sense for them to dupe the people into trying to stop ai from taking their jobs.
They weren't just taking resources they were destroying the competition because they were much more efficient. And then richer andmore powerful than others.
Sure, if Canada used their hypothetical automation for imperialist goals, then of course that could affect Americans economically. But outside of the military angle, they wouldn't have any reason to say undercut our labor market by selling us comparable cars for half price because it will still be a deficit spend for them. They're essentially getting half a car or the equivalent from us in trade.
The idea that some tech billionaires can take down the West's labor markets just seems pretty absurd.
Why wouldn't the usa import goods that are better value?
And why wouldn't canada want the profit?
And if the usa goes down some protectionist luddite route they will become a poor country compared to the row.
What seems absurd is the idea any country is going to refuse to automate.
The idea that some tech billionaires can take down the West's labor markets just seems pretty absurd.
I agree with that.
but like some dude can become one of the richest man on the planet by selling some some software for people to chat to each other, it will make kings if we don't take steps to prevent such an absurd concentrate of wealth.
I agree with that.
but like some dude can become one of the richest man on the planet by selling some some software for people to chat to each other, it will make kings if we don't take steps to prevent such an absurd concentrate of wealth.
They're circumstantial flukes and there are just a few of them. Rockefeller's wealth represented a larger share of the economy than Musk's. Not like we ended up building pyramids for him.
He wielded significant political power but it's a mistake to take comfort from a world that was so dependent on human labour. Also weath by GDP may be comparable but measured in inflation adjusted terms he was a pauper compared to musk who no-one is anointing musk as 'king' yet either. We cans still change the trajectory.
even so he had some 'pyramids'
Rockefeller memorials include major landmarks like the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway (Wyoming), the Rockefeller Forest (California), and the William Rockefeller Mausoleum (New York).
and yes they are circumstantial flukes. Unlike the kings of old who were there by divine intervention????
ai is now mirroring my language
this was well deserved, i got a ton of pushback that the proposed solution couldn't possibly be done because the data i just fed it didn't exist
Maybe along the lines of what you and Rocco were talking about somewhere, that line is regulation of capital goods (B2B) and consumer goods (B2C). Back in the day a lot of fortunes were built selling candy. I doubt anyone really cared, least of all the government so long as they got their rake.
Energy, steel, etc. and now tech and data are different animals. I can't say I'm ideologically opposed to the people or the government controlling those industries because they are vital services today with tech especially. All this stuff was an economic novelty just 30 or so years ago. And a you noted the economy was much smaller back in Rockefeller's day. But it was also far less interconnected and interdependant than we are.
I'm thinking something will change. We're running into hard lines with AI and its energy usage. Same goes with the chips. So sooner than later we need to decide who gets what and how much in terms of those resources. But rather than the government taking control or ownership of all the capital goods market, maybe just throttle it through energy allocation.
There is always going to be use cases that need more horsepower and energy but the stuff that is taking everyday people's jobs and tasks will get more and more efficient. Probably in not much time you'll be able to get the same performance from today's bleeding edge models running on your phone.
There is always going to be use cases that need more horsepower and energy but the stuff that is taking everyday people's jobs and tasks will get more and more efficient. Probably in not much time you'll be able to get the same performance from today's bleeding edge models running on your phone.
If the west drops the ball, it's not going to stop china.
