To be utterly despondent about AI

https://archive.ph/MEf2P

Original article is paywalled at the Independent.

But it's this sort of thing we need to properly examine.

Another one who has no idea of what AI is.

Good to see a large number of people expressing doubts and concerns about AI and the uncharted territory we are being led into by billionaires with pound signs in their eyes and a range of dodgy ideologies fomenting in the background.

I've been banging on about the possible risks and negative consequences for several years and generally get an eye roll, pat on the head, and the implication that I'm just old and can't get with the times....

What gets me is the apparent lack of choice we have over all this. Everything is digital now, and there is no back up in the event of infrastructure failure. In terms of maintaining a "civilised" society, we are incredibly vulnerable on a practical level.

AI poses moral and ethical questions.

People are already debating the "rights" of AI and whether it could be considered in some way sentient.

Does it matter if what we are exposed to is "real" or not? Of course it does. The speed at which false narratives spread via our little handheld computers is staggering and has real world consequences.

We're engineering our own obsolescence and apparently are happy to do so, because "getting one's colours done" is so much fun.

I think "government" is now just theatre - We're already ruled by corporations who can sue if their profit making ability is interfered with by a country.

It's madness, all of it.

Agree. And not to mention autonomous weapons on that robot police force. I think there will be an uprising, I don’t think it will do anything other than be very messy for those doing the uprising.

Now I am depressed

Thanks for mentioning this podcast. I listened to it last night and it’s eye opening. Everyone needs to listen to it, I think. If you don’t think AI is going to change anything, you are very wrong. We are at the beginning of a new revolution that is going to change society in unimaginable ways.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=giT0ytynSqg

One other area that worries me is the loss of human knowledge. I already see it a bit today with younger people joining work. As the more junior roles in many of the professions become more automated or outsourced, the graduate jobs are more 'senior' but without the fundamental knowledge that you'd learn through a more junior apprenticeship. If this continues with AI, where it can do most of law or finance, etc. it means that humans will lose their own knowledge and understanding of the fundamentals. In 100 years how do humans argue against laws designed by AI when their own knowledge of law has been destroyed by it? How do you litigate for your rights when you are relying on big tech to do it? What keeps big tech in line if humans have lost their own ability to do so?

I agree.

The arts, psychology sciences
Accounts copywriters are already being affected

I have friends in some of these these fields that can't get commissions and others say AI saves them time.

We eventually the boss will realise the time saved equals less employees needed.

It's our kids that will suffer. The entry jobs are getting more and more difficult to get.

Why isn’t it? Just because the system demonstrating those emotions isn’t human? You’re underestimating what AI can do.

That's not the same thing as compassion/empathy. A picture of a thing is not a thing. That might or might not matter in some situations. But it still isn't compassion

Washing machine didn’t generate child abuse images though,

How does an AI have compassion? Sure one day it might develop consciousness and human empathy but that is.still quite Science Fiction u despite the huge advances

It’s already here. Research in China found that for people using Deepseek AI for mentality issues, that AI system has been more effective than human therapists. Likewise, there’s research that shows that ChatGPT can be more empathetic than human doctors.

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I'm not necessarily as concerned about the jobs as there will still be roles that ai will create and then roles it could never replace, which I'd hope might actually become more valued than they have been previously. Every major development with tech has created this fear but then jobs have also come off the back of it.

I do worry massively about the nefarious aspect of ai and how it can be utilised for malicious purposes and how staggeringly little is being done to counteract that. It feels like it's being developed and exploited far faster than any safeguarding mechanisms are being put in place and the major drivers behind it who are well enough resourced to tackle it just don't seem to care. The impact of that on young people, children and women particularly is very concerning in terms of how they can be exploited and harmed via ai.

As I said before,.if the robot police force is.created.by Elon Musk then it will probably explode/stop inexplicably in the middle of the road or start fighting itself. Something to hold onto (but don't hold onto the robots. They will explode)

Am not despondent but I worry that schools & colleges are still too focused on traditional academic learning. We /our kids need to be taught a)how to use AI to the best advantage & b) how to grow and develop it even better. It's difficult for some to accept that but rallying up against it is futile.

A robot police force will keep law and order. The best situation is to have property and savings. It is time to be frugal and enjoy the nature etc before things change inexplicably.

How does an AI have compassion? Sure one day it might develop consciousness and human empathy but that is.still quite Science Fiction u despite the huge advances
Some of the things on your list are different things to what AI is steaming ahead on now..sure it might develop those skills as it improves..but its a bit like saying "as toasters become better the technology will eventually allow them to double up as vacuum cleaners". In theory you could probably make a toaster vacuum cleaner. But it's not an obvious evolution of the technology.

In which case though the law firms will suffer because no way am I paying for work that is done by an AI rather than a junior/senior lawyer
How are time sheets going to work of its all AI? And then the senior partners will worry because you can pay everyone of and replace them with AI but if it takes AI seconds to do the work then people will only want to pay.for those seconds

In Ireland the closing of the Magdelan laundries coincided suspiciously closely with the introduction of the washing machine. So basically locking pregnant women up became less profitable. But in other places agree women lost a way they could earn an income working independently around childcare etc. Even if it was tough work

@EdwinaIronside I know, but who’s going to pay to maintain that route to competence? AI couldn’t have done what I’ve just seen even two years ago; today it’s able to give mundane legal advice to a professional standard; in two years’ time you have to assume it’ll be able to do everything bar really boutique or jurisprudential stuff. Then where are we? I can almost imagine the whole sector going over to AI, with boutique/jurisprudence being done in-house or by academics.

@TY78910 I can see both sides but I feel like I should be more devastated than I am tbh (it’s probably because I’m getting a bit one-foot-out-the-door). You get an education learning the principles, years building the technical mechanics, and an entire career acquiring the judgement to respond intuitively – and so you assume you are now in a valuable and respected specialist role that nobody else can do. But no, it turns out your client’s phone is about to be able do your job.

I do agree with you, to some extent - it’s going to take away all of the day-to-day run of the mill advice and “grunt” work. But it’s absolutely not perfect in its current form.

We’ve had several instances of unrepresented claimants submitting witness statements drafted by ChatGPT, and they’re completely awful. Generic, not tailored to the facts, using language the individuals themselves wouldn’t actually use - more akin to formal legal submissions. Virtually incomprehensible.

There have been several high profile examples of AI inventing case law, which (bad) lawyers then relied on at trial.

If we assume there might still be a role for experienced humans in providing certain types of legal advice, how do those human lawyer get experience if they aren’t doing at least some of the routine day to day stuff?

@Sskka I do completely understand where you’re coming from but I must admit I’ve been using ChatGPT for employment law advice on how to approach an appeal and it’s been amazing. It pointed out things I didn’t consider (and I feel fairly comfortable with HR) so I feel more in control. I would have likely caved in without it. I definitely can’t afford a lawyer to do this for me.