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We already live in a human zoo ruled by Moloch.
Why do big companies and governments follow the same common patterns? If you're the leader of a successful company and don't follow those patterns. you'll be pressured, if that doesn't work fired, if that doesn't work your company will go bankrupt. Same with politicians and governments.
Likewise, why is social media so mediocre and toxic? I don't actually think it benefits the rich (I can't imagine how) but is a natural consequence of human bias towards negativity. Hence even smaller sites like this are, albeit to a lesser extent.
We are ruled by self-reinforcing cycles comprised of many smart humans. If a participant stops perpetuating a cycle somebody else will step in. These cycles can and will be broken eventually, but either not obviously or not now, otherwise they already would be.
So to me, AI is just another overlord. Although that doesn't mean it can't be worse, the problem isn't that it rules over humans, the problem is how. For example, maybe future AI will be like a smartphone: a virtual assistant that future generations can't function without, that influences their thoughts however it wants based on its advice like a milder Whispering Earing (although current LLMs are unfortunately influencing us towards sameness and model collapse; I hope that if this is our future, the whispering AI still preserves individual uniqueness and anything else fundamental to "good life").
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