What is happening in the world?

Things may look bleak now, but my future is bright.

I think AI will take care of everything.
 

Sippican said:
Kill no living things? What would that outcome result in?
Millions of animals roaming the streets, predatory animals will be hunting humans for food. Fish, sharks, whales will be washed ashore from the lack of food in the oceans.
Bees, hornets, deadly deer tick will be everywhere, killing people.
Without nutrients from animal meat, people would starve.
Really? Kill no living thing?
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I partially agree with you but within reason.
I know you're aware pollution is killing our sea life and we have killed more trees due to excess use of paper products, and for example, etc
We were "created to have dominion over the animals"....but we are killing wayyyy more than necessary. We would be much healthier if we ate more fruits and vegetables with smaller meat portions.

Also, you mentioned bees. You think we should kill bees? YIKES! No more pollination? We can't exist without Bees. I think they are they still endangered due to our pest control efforts from flying over crops. And it's not just animals...everything is alive on this planet
 
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Lara said:
I partially agree with you but within reason.
I know you're aware pollution is killing our sea life and we have killed more trees due to excess use of paper products, and for example, etc
We were "created to have dominion over the animals"....but we are killing wayyyy more than necessary. We would be much healthier if we ate more fruits and vegetables with smaller meat portions.

Also, you mentioned bees. You think we should kill bees? YIKES! No more pollination? We can't exist without Bees. I think they are they still endangered due to our pest control efforts from flying over crops. And it's not just animals...everything is alive on this planet
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So, killing trees (a living thing?) is not good.....but fruits and vegetables (a living thing?) is good?
So when a bee lands on us, or a swarm is around us, we should do nothing but take the stings?
See, your view is so outrageous that it could never be implemented logically.
 
Sippican said:
So, killing trees (a living thing?) is not good.....but fruits and vegetables (a living thing?) is good?
So when a bee lands on us, or a swarm is around us, we should do nothing but take the stings?
See, your view is so outrageous that it could never be implemented logically.
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As I clearly posted...
"Killing more trees due to excessive use"...

Yes fruits and vegetables are alive and grow for the purpose of feeding us
Something we must eat to survive. But you knew that right?

Bees only swarm and attack if they feel threatened...that's natural. Seek cover and don't threaten them.
We still need them for pollination to survive...but you knew that, right?

I'm outrageous and illogical? Gee thanks. That's your opinion. Have a nice day.
 
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rgp said:
Not arguing ... just thinking aloud . If AI will be the un-doing of humanity ... what would AI be doing it for ? [it being, whatever "it" is ?]
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It could, theoretically, be for any reason. I'm not privvy to all the logic built into these systems, and it's probably above my pay grade, but we're still a long way from having thinking machines. What we do have are neural networks of learning, of connections being made, of analysis and statistical balancing.

AI will change the world. The mistake of many is thinking change isn't going on all the time anyway. When I was a lad, getting a check banking card - to verify written checks - was a real achievement! Today? Couple taps on a screen - and who writes actual checks anymore? I remember when my family upgraded our TV from black and white (which most people had) to color. I remember there not being an internet. I remember when, if you wanted to call someone outside of your home, you went to a public call box. I remember when every garden on our street had a coal bunker. I remember milk being delivered daily. And so on.

All that has radically changed. We moved from an industrial age to an information age, and now AI is joining the party. We're all teed up to panic because of the countless movies of AI systems starting wars or taking over. In reality, most - if not all - the members of this forum will be gone by the time we know the full extent of the impact.

Undoing of humanity? I don't know on what basis such a statement could be made. What part of society today do you think will be undone? Data driven decision making is normal today. Just-in-time economics was ushered in with the PC. People don't trust politicians to run things, they don't always trust their neighbors! So really, what is the fear really?
 
VaughanJB said:
It could, theoretically, be for any reason. I'm not privvy to all the logic built into these systems, and it's probably above my pay grade, but we're still a long way from having thinking machines. What we do have are neural networks of learning, of connections being made, of analysis and statistical balancing.

AI will change the world. The mistake of many is thinking change isn't going on all the time anyway. When I was a lad, getting a check banking card - to verify written checks - was a real achievement! Today? Couple taps on a screen - and who writes actual checks anymore? I remember when my family upgraded our TV from black and white (which most people had) to color. I remember there not being an internet. I remember when, if you wanted to call someone outside of your home, you went to a public call box. I remember when every garden on our street had a coal bunker. I remember milk being delivered daily. And so on.

All that has radically changed. We moved from an industrial age to an information age, and now AI is joining the party. We're all teed up to panic because of the countless movies of AI systems starting wars or taking over. In reality, most - if not all - the members of this forum will be gone by the time we know the full extent of the impact.

Undoing of humanity? I don't know on what basis such a statement could be made. What part of society today do you think will be undone? Data driven decision making is normal today. Just-in-time economics was ushered in with the PC. People don't trust politicians to run things, they don't always trust their neighbors! So really, what is the fear really?
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Laughing .... @ myself. I still use checks, I just believe that the less personal & financial information we put on line [out there] , the less chance we have of being 'hacked' and our accounts drained. .......... jmo

I know,I know ... we must use some, one ofmy local pizza parlors no longer takes cash. Must be purchased by c/c over the phone. I do not like it but ... if i want their pizza ?

My pension organization keeps bugging me to go to direct deposit .... I know someday I'll have to give in but ....... I'll hold off just as long as i can.
 
rgp said:
Laughing .... @ myself. I still use checks, I just believe that the less personal & financial information we put on line [out there] , the less chance we have of being 'hacked' and our accounts drained. .......... jmo

I know,I know ... we must use some, one ofmy local pizza parlors no longer takes cash. Must be purchased by c/c over the phone. I do not like it but ... if i want their pizza ?

My pension organization keeps bugging me to go to direct deposit .... I know someday I'll have to give in but ....... I'll hold off just as long as i can.
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I can respect that. It's one thing to be offered an option to do something, but another when you feel forced into it.

I had the same situation with Cell/Smartphones. I didn't want or need one. My old Nokia stayed charged for days and days, and that was good enough. But then my bank switched to an online authentication method that necessitated having one, as did VISA verification. So I was forced into it.......
 
rgp said:
Not arguing ... just thinking aloud . If AI will be the un-doing of humanity ... what would AI be doing it for ? [it being, whatever "it" is ?]
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IMO, replacing white collar workers, dismantling the remains of privacy and online security. Rewriting history, reshaping the Publics view of reality, etc.
 
Nathan said:
IMO, replacing white collar workers, dismantling the remains of privacy and online security. Rewriting history, reshaping the Publics view of reality, etc.
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Yes, the Tech industry fights for unregulated innovation. This could be disastrous. It is crime waiting to happen. Also the AI can be programmed with extreme bias/prejudice. Regulation is imperative to controlling the dangers. I think some of the big Tech companies are now beginning to agree to some regulation, but they continue to want room for R&D, and innovation.
 
Nathan said:
IMO, replacing white collar workers, dismantling the remains of privacy and online security. Rewriting history, reshaping the Publics view of reality, etc.
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Why would AI be concerned with any of that? I'm not seeing the connection.
 
Nathan said:
I think AI will be the un-doing of humanity, but I could be wrong.
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If it is, it will just be one more reverberation of our own self destructiveness.

While the weather is alarming I worry more about peopleā€™s mental stability. The worst people are able to motivate the most gullible toward destructive, hateful acts and it appears principles do not have a very strong hold on us.
 
Lara said:
killed more trees due to excess use of paper products
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This made me smile. When I was living in Germany I used to drive by a paper factory (well, cardboard boxes) every day. The stench from that process is something else. It's like rotten eggs, and it beyond nasty.
 
rgp said:
Not arguing ... just thinking aloud . If AI will be the un-doing of humanity ... what would AI be doing it for ? [it being, whatever "it" is ?]
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In a word: control. Control of consumers, citizens, worldly financial assets. Yea, makes me sound paranoid, but I don't subscribe to conspiracy theories and the wild eyed gloom & doom, but AI is real, and the potential for misuse is enormous.
 
Nathan said:
In a word: control. Control of consumers, citizens, worldly financial assets. Yea, makes me sound paranoid, but I don't subscribe to conspiracy theories and the wild eyed gloom & doom, but AI is real, and the potential for misuse is enormous.
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Personally speaking, this isn't how I see it. But then we don't really know enough about the AI that's out there right now - how does it store information, what directives does it have, how close to sentience?

I see "control" in perhaps different terms. So for example, AI might prioritize air quality, and thereby alert the authorities to the biggest polluters in a given area. That's a form of control, but it's not really what I'd say was controlling someone. AI could control finances by taking away buying options, or applying credit scores to individuals and applying them across every site, I guess.

I suppose I don't see why AI would do it. Sounds to me that you may be applying the worst of human traits to it, and that's not a given, imo.
 
VaughanJB said:
Personally speaking, this isn't how I see it. But then we don't really know enough about the AI that's out there right now - how does it store information, what directives does it have, how close to sentience?

I see "control" in perhaps different terms. So for example, AI might prioritize air quality, and thereby alert the authorities to the biggest polluters in a given area. That's a form of control, but it's not really what I'd say was controlling someone. AI could control finances by taking away buying options, or applying credit scores to individuals and applying them across every site, I guess.

I suppose I don't see why AI would do it. Sounds to me that you may be applying the worst of human traits to it, and that's not a given, imo.
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I'm not suggesting that an AI is sentient or would take action on it's own. AI technology is a tool that humans can deploy for whatever purpose, profit being a main driving motivation.
 
Nathan said:
I'm not suggesting that an AI is sentient or would take action on it's own. AI technology is a tool that humans can deploy for whatever purpose, profit being a main driving motivation.
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Oh, I got you. Well, sophisticated algorithms are doing that all the time in the background. I always laugh when talk of a National Identity Card comes up in the UK. People get upset and say they'd refuse it, but they ignore that we're all uniquely identifiable in many different ways, be it our NHS number, National Insurance number, credit cards, drivers licenses and so on. Then there's all the personal information people give away on Social Media. And that leads into every transaction we do online. For example, the Admin of this board could find out where we are at any time through one click (not suggesting they're doing this, just saying the forum software allows him to).

We're all tracked online the whole time, we all have IP addresses, and even if you're using a VPN you can usually tell via that unique number on our network devices.

So what I'm saying is - a lot of this stuff can happen right now, and does happen. AI simply extends it. For me the most radical part of AI is its self-learning abilities. That's when it changes the battleground.
 

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