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(lemmy.blahaj.zone)
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this post was submitted on 01 Feb 2024
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See this is the shit. I never would either. But I’m also against AI. Not on principle, but just based on the state of the world, tech companies, capitalism, complete disregard for human dignity, etc.
But it’s interesting because pushing back against AI or this stupid shit, people scream “anti progress!” and nonsense like that. Hey, I’m all for machines that could end human labor. But…that’s not where we’re going. Not any of the available information should lead anyone to believe that AI will do anything but help the rich become richer, spur on productivity while relegating humans to menial maintenance work. We aren’t moving toward UBI and life of leisure and art. We’re barreling toward dystopian cyberpunk hellscape.
How can anyone think implants will do anything or serve anyone except advertisers and data collection companies? Have we gotten smarter since we had access to all data in our pockets? No. We’ve gotten dumber and meaner and angrier and more depressed and disillusioned than ever. But…we’re pressing that pedal all the way to the floor, huh? Quadrupling down on this fucked up life to further alienate ourselves from everyone else and beam shitty memes and angry Twitter screeds directly into our brains. Nah. Thanks.
Call me when you’ve toppled capitalism. Then I’ll be down for helpful workhorse AI and…well, I still probably wouldn’t put a chip in my brain. But either way, this isn’t anti-progress. This is pragmatic realism and pessimism about furthering tech douches’ visions for humanity.
Oh, and the planet is still fixing to cook us alive. Can we…figure that out first? That’d be greeeat.
That's a really tough thing to answer, because first you'd have to define what you mean by "smarter". The biggest problem with talk about intelligence (artificial or otherwise) is that different people have different ideas of what it is, and a lot of people can't even nail down what they mean, much less agree with anybody else on what it is.
Sure doesn't look that way to me. Compare QAnon to the Satanic Panic. Or 9-11 conspiracy theories to JFK conspiracy theories. Sure, it's much easier to spread bullshit than ever before, but it's also easier to debunk bullshit than ever before.
…is it? I don’t think it is. In the 60s, you didn’t have JFK conspiracy theorists in office. On tv. Yeah, Satanic Panic was based on junk science and was being hawked on the news. But we still have that still today plus people who think the stuff that used to be in supermarket tabloids AND THEN SOME—and it’s a not insignificant number. Sure, there have always been crazy people, but their delusions didn’t spread so widely, weren’t accepted by impactful blocs of people amassing power.
I mean, you’re right. It’s impossible to quantify. And it seems we’re pretty much limiting this discussion to the US, so look at all the studies showing the deep division. Look at the far flung conspiracy theories becoming mainstream. Look at the level of political discourse. Look at test scores. Look at the out of control crises going on every day.
My point is this tech and access was supposed to have made us smarter. And it absolutely did not do that. We’re just as dumb if not much dumber. I mean, statistically, we are dumber. Unhappier, more disillusioned and depressed and anxious and pessimistic than ever. Sure, it’s possible we’re not worse off than before and now we’re just measuring these things more acutely. It the point is we’ve advanced leaps and bounds and the idea is that the tech was supposed to better us. Instead, it heightened inequality and hurt us all. Mentally and physically.
Fucking amen.
Goddamn tech bros lose it at anyone who doesn’t full heartedly embrace their Star Trek aesthetic that has no Star Trek principles underlying it. They want us to act like they personally brought us to the year 2300 when really we’re not even at the Bell riots yet.