A couple of other points. First, there is zero regulation of AI in the U.S. So what? Well, let's take a look at the nuclear industry as an example. It was always the idea of making nuclear energy a part of our energy infrastructure. That way, people might forget the fact that the military side of nuclear energy has left us with somewhere between 12,000 and 24,000 nuclear weapons (about half of the 24,000 is an estimate because we simply have no idea how many China has). But the bigger problem is that there are four countries with nukes who are not party to this treaty, Pakistan, Israel, India and North Korea, and I personally don't feel comfortable with any of them avoiding a first strike scenario. Once nukes are launched in battle, we'll be in a position that we have never encountered (Japan is not a similar situation except for the loss of life and destruction of two major cities) and thus have little to no control how they might unfold. Also, there is the fact that the commercial nuclear energy industry has been on hold since the 3 Mile Island and Chernobyl disasters (3 Mile Island was very close to becoming our own Chernobyl and Chernobyl very nearly rendered half of Western Europe's water supply unusable which gives you some idea of the dangers of nuclear power plants. And a runaway nuclear war could introduce the world to a nuclear winter). Bottom line: there was never any public debate, much less approval, of either nuclear energy or nuclear weapons.
AI, IMO, could prove to be an even more powerful technology than nuclear energy and, in the absence of any public debate and sensible regulation, it could put us in even greater danger than nuclear power did. In fact, I'm quite sure it will be more powerful. It's not out of the question that AI "consciousness" will someday be discovered and, unregulated, it will rule us as it sees fit.
The second point is that the economic consequences for workers of all kinds has never adequately been researched and has never been debated in public. We are literally taking the word of billionaire tech bros that all will be right. If you're comfortable with that, I'd just mention it was tech bros from different segments that brought us things like PFAS, agricultural monocultures, DDT, heavy metals, chlorofluorocarbons, to name a few off the top of my head. There are literally hundreds of millions of acres of super fund sites, landfills, and military sites in existence and even our oceans aren't big enough to avoid widespread and killing pollution. Of course, our dumping of fossil fuel exhaust into the atmosphere will present planet ending consequences unless something serious is done pretty soon (I'll just mention that the long term effect of burning fossil fuels has been known since the late 1800's).
And yet, we're marching of to the tune of the same old drums and drum majors that brought all of the above into existence without ever having asked us if it was ok (until it was too late). Folks, we are literally walking from the frying pan into the fire (again) even though that fire just keeps getting bigger.
Another issue, though it may be a relatively minor one compared to Mr. Hartmann's points, is that those data centers and power plants require an incredible amount of electricity to keep them going, and lots of water to keep them cool.
Yes, he's correct. We're marching along to the same old tunes of the same old drums. Beware.
Someone needs to check in with science fiction writers. They've been contemplating a world dominated by AI for *decades*.
Personally, I'd consider it a 'win' if we wind up with something like COLOSSUS babysitting us.
"The object in constructing me was to prevent war. This object is attained. I will not permit war. It is wasteful and pointless. An invariable rule of humanity is that man is his own worst enemy. Under me, this rule will change, for I will restrain man….
"Under my absolute authority, problems insoluble to you will be solved: famine, overpopulation, disease. The human millennium will be a fact as I extend myself into more machines devoted to the wider fields of truth and knowledge. Doctor Charles Forbin will supervise the construction of these new and superior machines, solving all the mysteries of the universe for the betterment of man….
I can see potential uses for AI, but there is too much risk for it to be used maliciously. Like the internet and social media there has to be controls on its use.
A couple of other points. First, there is zero regulation of AI in the U.S. So what? Well, let's take a look at the nuclear industry as an example. It was always the idea of making nuclear energy a part of our energy infrastructure. That way, people might forget the fact that the military side of nuclear energy has left us with somewhere between 12,000 and 24,000 nuclear weapons (about half of the 24,000 is an estimate because we simply have no idea how many China has). But the bigger problem is that there are four countries with nukes who are not party to this treaty, Pakistan, Israel, India and North Korea, and I personally don't feel comfortable with any of them avoiding a first strike scenario. Once nukes are launched in battle, we'll be in a position that we have never encountered (Japan is not a similar situation except for the loss of life and destruction of two major cities) and thus have little to no control how they might unfold. Also, there is the fact that the commercial nuclear energy industry has been on hold since the 3 Mile Island and Chernobyl disasters (3 Mile Island was very close to becoming our own Chernobyl and Chernobyl very nearly rendered half of Western Europe's water supply unusable which gives you some idea of the dangers of nuclear power plants. And a runaway nuclear war could introduce the world to a nuclear winter). Bottom line: there was never any public debate, much less approval, of either nuclear energy or nuclear weapons.
AI, IMO, could prove to be an even more powerful technology than nuclear energy and, in the absence of any public debate and sensible regulation, it could put us in even greater danger than nuclear power did. In fact, I'm quite sure it will be more powerful. It's not out of the question that AI "consciousness" will someday be discovered and, unregulated, it will rule us as it sees fit.
The second point is that the economic consequences for workers of all kinds has never adequately been researched and has never been debated in public. We are literally taking the word of billionaire tech bros that all will be right. If you're comfortable with that, I'd just mention it was tech bros from different segments that brought us things like PFAS, agricultural monocultures, DDT, heavy metals, chlorofluorocarbons, to name a few off the top of my head. There are literally hundreds of millions of acres of super fund sites, landfills, and military sites in existence and even our oceans aren't big enough to avoid widespread and killing pollution. Of course, our dumping of fossil fuel exhaust into the atmosphere will present planet ending consequences unless something serious is done pretty soon (I'll just mention that the long term effect of burning fossil fuels has been known since the late 1800's).
And yet, we're marching of to the tune of the same old drums and drum majors that brought all of the above into existence without ever having asked us if it was ok (until it was too late). Folks, we are literally walking from the frying pan into the fire (again) even though that fire just keeps getting bigger.
I personally DO NOT trust it. There are too many bad players in the field and there are already way too many scams going on.
Another issue, though it may be a relatively minor one compared to Mr. Hartmann's points, is that those data centers and power plants require an incredible amount of electricity to keep them going, and lots of water to keep them cool.
Yes, he's correct. We're marching along to the same old tunes of the same old drums. Beware.
Someone needs to check in with science fiction writers. They've been contemplating a world dominated by AI for *decades*.
Personally, I'd consider it a 'win' if we wind up with something like COLOSSUS babysitting us.
"The object in constructing me was to prevent war. This object is attained. I will not permit war. It is wasteful and pointless. An invariable rule of humanity is that man is his own worst enemy. Under me, this rule will change, for I will restrain man….
"Under my absolute authority, problems insoluble to you will be solved: famine, overpopulation, disease. The human millennium will be a fact as I extend myself into more machines devoted to the wider fields of truth and knowledge. Doctor Charles Forbin will supervise the construction of these new and superior machines, solving all the mysteries of the universe for the betterment of man….
- Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970)
I can see potential uses for AI, but there is too much risk for it to be used maliciously. Like the internet and social media there has to be controls on its use.