To be utterly despondent about AI

[AnotherGreyMorning]

and our future?

Jobs becoming obsolete. People unable to earn a living.

Villains harnessing for their own ends.

It will all move far too fast and at sophisticated levels for even the most dedicated to manage.

Governments will be stunned by it. People will really suffer.

I just feel quiet dread because whilst life will be great for the wealthy and those who are protected, for the vast majority, I think it will be hellish.

@happinessischocolate You haven’t said what work you do, but in a way it doesn’t matter because AI is impacting in every job sector, in good ways and bad. Teaching used to be a safe career, not anymore. Same with nursing and dentistry. I said the other day that your employer’s priority isn’t you - it’s saving and making money.

I use it a bit at work (marketing) and it never quite gets it right. Eg creating a deck of findings from a survey, analysing a set of data, writing copy. Human intervention still needed to actually be able to apply and use it in my experience.

Feel exactly the same. I’m in my 50s and feel so sorry for the young children today, who are the adults of the future. The world is such a crap place to be atm. Teetering on a world war. AI and all the changes that will bring (and not for the better). Public services in a worse state than they’ve ever been. Resilience no longer exists. I think our generation probably had the best as children growing up, and young adults without the pressure of social media.

So, if we accept that AI might bring some benefits but on the whole is not a good thing….. why are we doing it?

The company I work for is very good at making money, but it’s the employees that make the bosses the money. Trying to replace people with AI is not going to bring more money in, and as I stated in a previous post most of the stuff that can be streamlined by computers already is.

I read elsewhere a quote saying that the companies who will do the best are not the ones who replace the employees with AI but the ones who invest in AI to expand the business.

AI won't replace teachers or dentistry. Robotics possibly could.

Sorry, but AI is already replacing teachers.

No it isn't.

You're not paying attention if that's what you think.

You’re teaching it with every interaction.

Go on then, tell me the specifics.

We have stories of teachers using AI to set homework, then students using AI to do homework and the teachers using AI to mark it.

I dont think its replacing teachers but its certainly interesting times.

That's very different to AI replacing teachers though

It is indeed, but still odd sitting in governors meetings and hearing how the AI marking is really accurate and faster so pupils can get more feedback, but that they had to stop doing the written work as homework.

Im 100% on board that it's not replacing teachers bit its changing teaching.

At what point will content become irrelevant and all people will have to learn is how to prompt AI?

Very apt timing, discusses UBI (amongst other things). Points out that only a very few countries will be operating the AI companies (USA, China) and only they will be able to fund UBI from taxing the companies. The rest of us will just have to hope they give us handouts.

Also points out that however many assurances we receive that they'll be so much money being generated that AI will end poverty, America already has enough money to end poverty. And poverty has not ended. In fact, it's growing. Are we really going to believe that just a few billion more and they'll start sharing?

264 - Guest: Dagan Shani, Filmmaker, part 2 | Artificial Intelligence and You

Systems are currently being built to offer entire AI tuition, though mostly aimed at home schooling, or less developed countries. But it's certainly expected that increasing amounts of education everywhere will be done by AI, with teachers just helping out if a child has trouble, and keeping an eye to make sure the kids behave themselves. So there'll be a lot less work for teachers, and they won't need anything like as much knowledge as the computer's will know everything. Salaries will presumably reflect that.

So the irony is that if all these worst case scenarios happen, and there’s barely any jobs and no UBI and the rich have all the money and the rest of us die in poverty then the very companies that brought in the self service check outs and the click & collect will cease to exist.
The rich aren’t going to be eating McDonald’s takeaways and self scanning in Tescos

Are we not a long long way from AI being able to calve a cow, fix a blocked loo, cart slurry, help an elderly person onto a toilet or make my kids tea.

Let alone the fact that all this tech breaks down. We have a lot of machinery on our farm that is designed to save labour. It does but it still needs someone to deal with the inevitable break downs and cock ups.

Yeah the AI at the moment cannot do your job, but 3 years down the line, there will be virtually no job it cannot do. It's in its infancy right now. Bit it will get better and better and better at a rate that is so quick it will be a blink of an eye.

A few years ago I would have been encouraging my sons to follow their ambitions to become video game developers (I work in the industry myself) however, they would be much better off learning a trade, AI will never be able to do the plumbing or fit a kitchen.

The potential uses of AI are incredible but also completely terrifying in the wrong hands.

This is the point here, to those saying “but AI can’t…”

It might not be able to right now, but it is growing at an alarming speed, and it will be able to soon.

Nope, we saw how well that went in Covid. You need knowledgeable, interactive people in teaching.

Only if you need well-educated citizens.

https://news.sky.com/story/uks-first-teacherless-ai-classroom-set-to-open-in-london-13200637