Wow - Thoughts on AI's Rapid Expansion into our Real Lives

[ronandannette]

This is a bit of a read, but I urge you to do so. AI is such a rapidly-expanding force, I don't think most of us even begin to grasp the potential impact it can/will have on regular people, in previously unimaginable ways. Can relying on non-human, digitally generated emotional support and advice possibly be healthy? Can the ability to "converse" with a digitally-generated version of any person, living or dead, have any actual benefit, or will it just lead to further detachment from reality, isolation, and a further entrenchment in a blurry, "virtual" life that makes our real ones seem mundane and somehow less satisfying? Very thought-provoking.

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/tech...S&cvid=41087d7789e9423dd0703e7a186a44e5&ei=77

 

[tinkerbellandpeterpan]

This is a bit of a read, but I urge you to do so. AI is such a rapidly-expanding force, I don't think most of us even begin to grasp the potential impact it can/will have on regular people, in previously unimaginable ways. Can relying on non-human, digitally generated emotional support and advice possibly be healthy? Can the ability to "converse" with a digitally-generated version of any person, living or dead, have any actual benefit, or will it just lead to further detachment from reality, isolation, and a further entrenchment in a blurry, "virtual" life that makes our real ones seem mundane and somehow less satisfying? Very thought-provoking.

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/tech...S&cvid=41087d7789e9423dd0703e7a186a44e5&ei=77

It makes me highly uncomfortable and I'm very nervous about it creeping further and further into our lives without even our knowledge or consent. I am not anti-technology or a luddite but I have a lot of concerns about this and I almost pretend AI doesn't exist because thinking about it in depth gives me serious anxiety (yes, i realize this is not a reasonable way to deal with it).

 

[PollyannaMom]

I'm definitely not fond of how much AI is part of now.

Weren't there all kinds of movies back in the 70s and 80s warning us that technology was going to take over?

 

[amcnj]

There was an interesting article a month or two back stating that scientists purposely tried to train AI to be evil, and later found they weren’t able to reverse it. It pointed out that was a case where it was purposely made to do bad, not the AI developing that on its own. But still….

 

[_19disnA]

Still not concerned. Everything running a computer program did NOT suddenly become an example of AI. Various article still continue to describe exactly what AI is differently. Frankly, I think many of the tech companies are playing up AI as the next big thing mostly to drive up their stock price. Most videos I have seen including some AI components seem fake and artificial so you know it's not real. Text written by AI usually sounds stiff/choppy, with poor grammar/syntax and written in the 3rd person so it is also easy to spot. Still not anything I lose sleep over.

 

[tony67]

IMO it important to watch it and watch it closely because it is improving year after year, if not month after month.
Video and photography are both improving dramatically year after year.

That said I do agree with the PP that much of it is hype and they are calling almost anything AI to get that stock multiplier.

The thing is whether or not you agree its good now - where will it be in five years?

 

[tasha99]

I am not for it. I know we can't put the worms back in the can, but I wish we could. I can easily imagine AI being very harmful to people in the future.

 

[tony67]

I am not for it. I know we can't put the worms back in the can, but I wish we could. I can easily imagine AI being very harmful to people in the future.

Yeah - I am currently dealing with all the AI they are using for hiring people.

It can be gamed, but I am not at a point where I feel like doing that. basically you need the job posting and you resume, run it through a service and it tells you want to add for the specific job posting to have it get noticed by the AI.

What was worse though was a recent AI first interview - I am not even going to do it.
So you basically get interviewed by an AI and you have to be on camera and they record it.

I care less about the AI, but what will they do with that recording? No thanks.
I can understand why many folks are refusing to cam up for interviews now, especially with a company you never heard of.

 

[ronandannette]

Just curious - did anybody read the article and have specific thoughts on those particular applications?

 

[tony67]

Just curious - did anybody read the article and have specific thoughts on those particular applications?

nope..


But after your question I did read a bit of it and I like it even less.

So they want me to trust an AI psychologist? No thanks. Stopped there.
They want me to trust google or whoever runs the AI with that kind of thing?
Doctor patient confidentially - how does that play into it - will I start getting ads for Xanax or some such??
I can only imaging the terms of service.

 

[fla4fun]

I have nothing against AI specifically. There are applications where that technology can be useful. But I feel that there are many areas where AI is being pushed that are not in humanity’s best interests. That aspect of AI scares me a little. There are times when I need a human interaction and no amount of AI will change that.

 

[ronandannette]

nope..


But after your question I did read a bit of it and I like it even less.

So they want me to trust an AI psychologist? No thanks. Stopped there.
They want me to trust google or whoever runs the AI with that kind of thing?
Doctor patient confidentially - how does that play into it - will I start getting ads for Xanax or some such??
I can only imaging the terms of service.

Yes - just so. It was these aspects of the specific article that I was hoping to discuss. Had you read a bit further, you'd have come to the part about being able to converse with and form on-going (imaginary) relationships with AI versions of people that interest you. Anybody - alive or dead. The writer chose William Shakespeare and Napoleon. Wild, wild stuff; fraught with the potential to lead vulnerable people into delusion.

 

[tony67]

Yes - just so. It was these aspects of the specific article that I was hoping to discuss. Had you read a bit further, you'd have come to the part about being able to converse with and form (imaginary) relationships with AI versions of people that interest you. The writer chose William Shakespeare and Napoleon. Wild, wild stuff.

hmm I do have to wonder if we have enough valid information to actually emulate those people in history.

Yeah there are tons of books on them or by them and some documented stuff - but that leads me too how valid it actually is?

No doubt it is interesting Ill give it that.

I did go back and read the rest - I do find it amusing that they were arguing with Shakespeare.
How does Napoleon know about an air force and the British navy is not all that anymore so seems a bit off IMO.

 

[T00dles]

An AI psychologist? Next, we'll take dating advice from Leisure Suit Larry.

It is fun stuff. But yeah, generative AI is just pushing out patterns.

 

[prairie_girl]

An AI psychologist? Next, we'll take dating advice from Leisure Suit Larry.

It is fun stuff. But yeah, generative AI is just pushing out patterns.

Leisure Suit Larry!!

Growing up, we were strictly forbidden from being in the basement when my parents were playing that game. Of course, any time they left the house it was a mad rush to get the game booted up to see what it was all about.

 

[ronandannette]

hmm I do have to wonder if we have enough valid information to actually emulate those people in history.

Yeah there are tons of books on them or by them and some documented stuff - but that leads me too how valid it actually is?

No doubt it is interesting Ill give it that.

I did go back and read the rest - I do find it amusing that they were arguing with Shakespeare.
How does Napoleon know about an air force and the British navy is not all that anymore so seems a bit off IMO.

Pretty sure we don't, especially when these are supposed to be give-and-take conversations where the real person can say/ask anything they want. I guess that's my point - lonely, vulnerable people feeling like they're connecting and the platform generating God-only-knows-what kind of ideas to them. Case in point: The author, even totally knowing he was conducting his onw thought experiment, feeling afterwards that Napoleon was a nicer guy than Shakespeare as if he had just actually met both of them.

 

[CGB]

Just curious - did anybody read the article and have specific thoughts on those particular applications?

It reminded me of the 2013 movie "Her" which starred Joaquin Phoenix, whose character develops feelings for his AI virtual assistant. I feel like we actually could be heading straight towards that reality. However, chatting with historical figures (well, AI-generated versions) could be fun. Combine that tech with the animatronics at WDW and that could make the Hall of Presidents a whole new "individualized" experience!

I'm all for the benefits that AI could provide humanity (especially in medical research), but I do worry it is probably a pandora's box that we may regret opening.

 

[tasha99]

Yeah - I am currently dealing with all the AI they are using for hiring people.

It can be gamed, but I am not at a point where I feel like doing that. basically you need the job posting and you resume, run it through a service and it tells you want to add for the specific job posting to have it get noticed by the AI.

What was worse though was a recent AI first interview - I am not even going to do it.
So you basically get interviewed by an AI and you have to be on camera and they record it.

I care less about the AI, but what will they do with that recording? No thanks.
I can understand why many folks are refusing to cam up for interviews now, especially with a company you never heard of.

Yikes! I had no idea it was used for interviewing already! That's harmful, I think, in the thousand papercuts type of way. Everyplace AI replaces a human, there's a chance it's cutting off interpersonal relationships and communication. Yuck.

I was thinking of something more in the future, like the paperclip problem.* Or the fact that some governments (and probably ours) will try to weaponize it. I say "fact" when it's conjecture, but we all know there is/will be an AI arms race.

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instrumental_convergence (paperclip maximizer section)

 

[tony67]

Yikes! I had no idea it was used for interviewing already! That's harmful, I think, in the thousand papercuts type of way. Everyplace AI replaces a human, there's a chance it's cutting off interpersonal relationships and communication. Yuck.

I was thinking of something more in the future, like the paperclip problem.* Or the fact that some governments (and probably ours) will try to weaponize it. I say "fact" when it's conjecture, but we all know there is/will be an AI arms race.

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instrumental_convergence (paperclip maximizer section)

Yeah this is the first time I ever came across it.

I get the idea of wanting to weed out unqualified folks without wasting peoples time - the amount of interviews I used to go through to hire one person was pretty painful - and I was already the second round person so they were already screened by someone before they came to me.

The idea of it being recorded by the company bothers me way more than the AI part of it. So the AI will ask question and you respond on camera and they record it. Where does this video go, what may the do with it in the future. Might they use it against you in the future if you are hired? Too many questions for me to trust it.

 

[tony67]

Pretty sure we don't, especially when these are supposed to be give-and-take conversations where the real person can say/ask anything they want. I guess that's my point - lonely, vulnerable people feeling like they're connecting and the platform generating God-only-knows-what kind of ideas to them. Case in point: The author, even totally knowing he was conducting his onw thought experiment, feeling afterwards that Napoleon was a nicer guy than Shakespeare as if he had just actually met both of them.

Saw this and it reminded me of this discussion - not sure how I feel about this and really dislike the founder based on this comment - ""You absolutely don't need consent from someone who's dead," he said. "My mom could've hated the idea, but this is what I wanted and I'm alive."

https://news.yahoo.com/ai-takes-on-...ts-you-talk-to-dead-loved-ones-181753229.html