To not have children due to the potential threat of AI

[NP101]

I realise this probably makes me sound like a fully paid up member of the tin hat society but I'm increasingly worried about the threat of AI.

It has made me re-evaluate having children as the future looks pretty bleak - I can envisage the internet more or less being unusable in 5 years time and then the subsequent fall out of this - both socially and economically.

I realise I probably would have had similar feelings had I been around in various other points in history and subsequently regretted not having children but this current threat seems even more existential.

I think the future will be bad for kids born now and while we're much more comfortable in practical ways than for most of history (hello plumbing) the psychological impact of the digital changes will be huge.

I am glad to have had my life and not to be worrying about youngsters.

But hope is also reasonable.

Woah you guys are freaking me out a bit here. You think it's better to not be born than live in the age of AI? Why?

I think climate breakdown worries me more. I’ve had DC but do worry it was a selfish decision.

We all managed just fine before the Internet existed and before it became as heavily used as it is now.

What fallout are you imagining, socially and economically?

I’ve used ChatBot AI and it made some pretty serious basic mistakes. Simple maths for example. Misuse of language that changed the meaning significantly and in my field of expertise- when I set it tasks it doesn’t have all the learning through experience so it produces really basic, flat and incomplete information.

You can’t programme for ‘gut reactions’ and those nuances from human to human communication. You can’t programme creativity.

Good lord. 🙄

I think climate change is probably the bigger and more pressing threat.

I think it’s probably best you don’t have kids with that level of unhealthy paranoia and anxiety.

Anyone who thinks AI is just about the internet are misguided. AI could bring massive unemployment, social unrest, inability to know wgat is real or not in terms of information , deep fakery will be a massive problem and there are many AI experts who are stating this will be much greater existential threat to humanity than climate change / all within a much shorter time span.

there’s loads of interesting podcasts ( and other mediums) out there from the leaders of Google and other companies developing AI, who all talk very candidly about this and their deep concerns. and many others for those who are interested to understand more.

I probably wouldn’t be having children now if I didn’t already

Why the fuck are Google and others developing something that they believe to be a deep existential threat to humanity, ffs???

As much ask hate to admit it, I don't think your fears are unfounded. It looks like Armageddon is possible on this and the climate front.

You are not wrong to have concerns for what our world will look like in 50 years and decide not to procreate on the back of those concerns.
But I wouldn’t have AI as the most concerning issue right now. Climate change, pandemics and the possibility of nuclear annihilation would come higher on my list.

You always get people saying they would never have had their kids on threads like this or ones about climate change or war etc. What makes me laugh is it often turns out the kids are between 0 and 3. As if the world has changed so dramatically in the past 3 years that having kids then was fine but now isn't.

It's not just AI though is it? The threats of environmental disasters, loons like Putin and the state of our general economy. I get really sad and have been holding back from expressing these concerns directly to my nearly grown DC, but I can see the day getting closer when I tell them not to even think of having children within the next 10 years - see how things pan out. It's really depressing OP. I don't think you ABU to be thinking along these lines. Only if you have a really, really secure base and financial future would I contemplate bringing children into this world in these times 😔

Sounds like you have a few screws loose tbh.

If you don’t want to have kids that’s fine.

But if the only reason you don’t want kids is because of AI that’s pretty odd.

I have young kids and am shitting it about the state of the world.

AI and climate change.

I do what little I can as regards the planet (reduce, reuse, recycle etc - I hate how much people needlessly consume), there's nothing I can do to stop AI.

I do try to tell myself that people must have felt like this at every crunch point like this through history. I know it's bad right now, but I don't think I'd cope if I wallowed in just how bad things are.

My kids are so eco it breaks my heart. Because it's most probably all just too little too late.

But, I hate doom mongering and try to focus on the positives, even if that is just our little unit trying to live as sustainably and mindfully as possible.

YABU: what if your child is the leader of the future resistance, destined to beat the AI threat and restore harmony to the world?!

YABU.

I never get why people base their decisions on things that may or may not happen in 50 years. Should we all just give up now then?

The cockyness of people who refuse to acknowledge the bleakness ahead is a worry. Sure you might prefer to give it a go but you're doing no one any favours by insisting it's all ok.

I don't think it's cockiness. It's just choosing not to sit in a pit of gloom and be miserable. I'll deal with whatever comes when it comes.

I wouldn't let these worries put you off. Anything could happen in the future and while it does look more bleak than positive, people can still have happ lives. My DD is 7 and I'm going out of my way to make sure she has skills that will be relevant for the future (coding etc). I can't control the climate or wars but I can make sure she's happy while ever I am around

I’m too stupid to worry about ai.

But I do understand not wanting to bring children, specially girl, into this world.
I worry about the ever rising misogyny, porn, violent sex, beauty standards that are beyond crazy now.
I can’t deal with bringing a girl into this nightmare, I’d feel too guilty.
I do know men use the ai to create porn of women/children, that is scary.

You do realise that anyone who is not born will never be any the wiser about it?

But who actually knows the future? You don't. No one does. 100 years ago no one would have predicted the Internet. Things could change dramatically for the better in the next 50 years. Or yes they could get much much worse. But sitting around wailing and not doing certain things because at some point n the next 50 years things MIGHT get bad is just ridiculous.