AI over the next few years

[Nutmuncher]

I’ve recently shifted my reading content from war, doom scrolling and political madness towards being positive for the next few years, mainly scientific breakthroughs and technological advances from AI. There’s so much to be excited about (aside from the inescapable dose of fear and nerves of war doom climate doom and politics) and I think it’s something MN should be talking about more.

AI is coming whether we like it or not, it’s going to bring with it a seismic shift for the world that’s going to be incredible but also bring with it a tricky societal transition that will impact us all in some way, jobs will change, industry will evolve, the human touch will become increasingly important. How easily we transition to that new world is another story, how will those who don’t use devices or aren’t technology native actually navigate a more connected world? The economic implications if entire industries go or certain careers are no longer needed could be catastrophic if not managed properly and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. But I want to focus on the positives so let’s gloss over the bumpy transition period for now 😅

The advances and changes we’re going to see in the coming years will make today look like the 80’s in a relatively short space of time. The pace of progress in companies such as Anthropic, SpaceX, OpenAI right now is breathtaking. People think picture editing or making dodgy FB posters whenever you mention AI but it’s so much more than that, we just think it’s bad for the environment and that it’s taking jobs away when actually alongside technology and robotics it’s going to revolutionise how we live dramatically.

Excited about-

Medical advances and breakthroughs, we’ve seen the impact GLP-1s brought, there’s so much more just like those coming in the next few years. Drugs are being discovered super fast, research is taking months instead of years and analysis of clinical trials is more thorough and accurate. As new technologies come available the medicines keep improving. Gene therapy and having targeted treatments based on our own genetics is an exciting area of research that’s currently happening, the understanding of our own bodies will be a major step forward. I have always been keen in longevity and wellness, areas which I’m watching like a hawk.

Education. AI isn’t going to be a hologram teacher (not yet anyway) instead it could help teachers tailor lessons to each child, minimise many of the laborious administrative tasks, help to identify learning difficulties earlier and much more. I think classrooms are going to look very different in the next 5 years.

Industry. Rather than replacing entire industries, AI will automate repetitive work, improve decision-making and help people work more efficiently. Some sectors will change more than others and productivity will increase along with efficiency in the businesses that adopt and adapt. I think industry and workplaces in general will soon be judged on how quickly they use new technology, those that do will appear relevant and capable and those that don’t will resemble an office if it were still using a typewriter today.

Anyone else excited?

Yeah, right. 🤣🤣🤣

🤣🤣🤣😆🫣 seriously.

Why do those with agendas or completely opposite views always muddy the waters trying to discredit a thread by claiming OP is a journo?

If you wanted people to believe that you’re not a bot or a journo or a rage-bate generator why did you name change?

Why if you’re happy to be seen to post consistently across MN have you not put your money where your mouth is and posted under a name where people can go “oh, she’s a regular poster.” ?

You post a load of AI generated text about how excited you are about AI, on a website where people recognise that many of their jobs will be lost to AI in the near future, and you’re surprised that people see you for what you are? Either a bot, a journo, or a goadie newby out to cause upset

Did you search correclty? I haven’t name changed for months?

Also pop my posts into an AI checker and see what it says.

And what will that answer be?

Are we just glossing over the horrific environmental impacts, the impact on our own brains and critical thinking skills and the fact that generative AI in particular uses the stolen work of writers and artists as a matter of course? Not to mention that the AI boom and also AI agent responses to your questions and interactions are being controlled and driven by tech bros who have profit, rather than your interests, at heart.

All of these, but the environment aspect in particular, make me sick with worry about the future society and indeed planet that we're forcing our kids into. So no. Not excited.

AI can get fucked. At least the large language models can. I am seriously worried about the long term and societal effect of outsourcing all our thinking to algorithms.

The initial effect seems to be a homogenising of culture, if the identikit AI posters for events that keep popping up on Facebook are anything to go by.

Thing with UBI is that it’s likely to be household income and in the region of 12’000 -15’000 per household not individual. That isn’t officially in the public domain and is being modelled. And that’s also assuming that someone is left willing to pay UBI. We can’t get multi millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share of tax and yet somehow we expect UBI to get paid?

Also 40-50% of all dementia cases can be prevented due to a combination of other factors. One of them is around building your cognitive reserve. The more we depend on AI to write for us or perform tasks the more we lack the ability to promote neuroplasticity which in the end will be disastrous for us all. If according to Sam Altman we will end up ‘purchasing’ intelligence from these AI companies, what will we be left with?

Not to mention all the impact on the environment. AI isn’t being developed for the benefit of humanity, if it was I would be behind it. It’s there to make largely tech companies even more powerful. And I agree with the Pope we need to start regulating AI.

Something that's rarely touched on, outside of the Economist and some tech journals, is that Big Tech is effectively stateless. Their reach is global.

Most of the parent companies reside in the US and China but are more or less ungovernable by those administrations. China keeps a tight hold over its industries but doesn't constrain their activities (and they can always move). The US government's taken ownership of the most advanced AI - but how long can they keep it to themselves? And what are they doing with it?

More to the point for the rest of us, these companies increasingly control our business, our public services, our banking, everything. They're into every corner of our lives yet pay us no taxes and answer to no-one. Their revenues are bigger than most countries' GDPs. Individual countries can't legislate to control them, limit them or get money from them.

It's easy to say we've sleepwalked into this, but we haven't. It's a can that's been kicked down too many roads for too long, partly because people whose jobs are about politics and running a country don't have the mental bandwidth to contemplate emergent tech. Mainly, though, because it is actually a global problem and you'll never get a whole bunch of governments to agree on anything.

We're heading very quickly towards a world that is run by a powerful oligarchy, neither elected nor fitted for government. What they do when faced with complex tasks is ... get AI to do it. They're all hiring philosophers at the moment, to help instil ethics into their products and offer guidance on machine/human interfaces. They're doing this because they realise their power is only going to increase.

Interesting times ahead.

Maybe I’m feeling sensitive: but WHY oh WHY do pro AI people ALWAYS bring up teachers as the most vulnerable profession? Most students ( people) actually want to learn (anything- flower arranging, politics) FROM A HUMAN.
My students would probably kick a robot, god bless ‘em.