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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   34491 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of March 6, 2023

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It is my belief that after the AI takeover, there will be increasingly less human-to-human interaction. This is partially because interacting with AI will be much preferable in every way, but it is also because safetyism will become ever more powerful. Any time two humans interact, there is the potential for someone to be harmed, at least emotionally. With no economic woes and nothing to do, moral busybodies will spend their time interfering with how other people spend their time, until the point where interacting with another human is so morally fraught and alienating that there is no point. Think about it, who would you rather spend time with: an AI who will do whatever you want and be whatever you want, anytime, or a grumpy human on her own schedule who wants to complain about someone who said "hi" to her without her consent? The choice seems obvious to me.

It is my belief that after the AI takeover, there will be increasingly less human-to-human interaction.

This is a major concern, yes.

One of the worst possible outcomes of ASI/singularity would be everyone plugging into their own private simulated worlds. Yudkowskian doom at the hands of the paperclip maximizers may be preferable. I'm undecided.

who would you rather spend time with: an AI who will do whatever you want and be whatever you want, anytime, or a grumpy human on her own schedule who wants to complain about someone who said "hi" to her without her consent?

Freedom is boring, not to mention aesthetically milquetoast, if not outright ugly in some cases. I have always been opposed to trends towards greater freedom and democratization in the arts - open world video games, audience participation in performance art and installations, and of course AI painting and photo editing recently - I find it all quite distasteful.

Is Tolstoy applicable here? Free men are all alike in their freedom; but to each unfree man we may bestow a most uniquely and ornately crafted set of shackles.

One of the worst possible outcomes of ASI/singularity would be everyone plugging into their own private simulated worlds. Yudkowskian doom at the hands of the paperclip maximizers may be preferable.

What???

Being able to do whatever you want, all the time, that's roughly as bad as death?

What's a good outcome then, if endless human autonomy is such a terrible fate? Working on a commune all day with 19th century technology? Chattel slavery? A happy-clappy Borg hive like in Foundation's Edge? Low-wage jobs in the modern-day? If you want an aesthetically ugly job, I can describe mine to you.

The want to force us to spend eternity with people who hate us and will psychologically abuse us. They'd rather us dead than allow us to escape. I know that's extreme but that's how I see it.

Well you and I are in agreement that that's a bad outcome. I personally expect to be killed as a result of strategic incentives encouraging monopolizing all available resources (which applies even if people are in charge).

But in principle, perfect autonomy is surely preferable.

I too am concerned about Yud-style misaligned AI, but I don't think it's more than 10% likely. Either way, if it's our fate, it's our fate. I'd rather be killed by emotionless AI than be psychologically tortured by feminists forever.

You really think that's the most accurate summary of their beliefs?

I think it's a hostile phrasing but correct in structure. I guess it could be accused of being an extrapolation. At any rate, it's hard to see how one would avoid it.

One man's "let's preserve human society" is another's "let's preserve the status games that unceasingly victimize me."

How would you summarize "their" beliefs? (We might have to decide who we mean by "their".)

I was referring to @Primaprimaprima's contention that if everyone dives into their own personal virtual world, that's a dystopia. I tend to agree, simply because I think interpersonal interactions are extremely important.

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