ai thought dump #2

i do not believe that "here to stay" is a thoughtful way to describe ai in a meaningful way because anything that has arrived to existence, naturally or by man in a capitalist society, has the intention of staying either as itself or in its legacy. basically, if your go-to for ai skeptics or people you're trying to sell a thing is "ai is here to stay", i think you're a dweeb. and if you are an ai evangelist, you should tell your peers who talk that way to stop being unserious.

that's not to say that ai is going to disappear overnight or over years, even. it will change in various ways like every other technology, virus, reputation–rudy giuliani used to be called "america's mayor", young people are making memes with curtis sliwa.

in my last post here i likened my thoughts on ai to eating animal products. there is a spectrum of cruelty, and everyone has a different threshold. i was vegan for many years and the constant, unsolicited attempted gotchas ranged from "what if tomatoes had feelings" (if we find out, let's talk, dumbass) to "what about cultures where eating meat is important" (my values are guidelines for myself, not other cultures). these discussions often ignored the human aspect of the supply chain - behind most products in our fridge, animal-based or plant-based, is human exploitation, environmental issues, politics. no one who brings up tomatoes having feelings cares about tomatoes having feelings, or considers the feelings of people picking the tomatoes. they care about having the last word and think that having the last word means they win, and that's unserious thinking. such people exist on every end of every discussion, but there are far more people inbetween - and just like in statistical analysis, it's best to ignore the outliers. especially when they get to the next level of unseriousness, the Disagreeing With Me Is a Privilege contingent.

being unserious is not illegal, but it's a signal to how much change in your body temperature is worth changing when engaging with them. this is the same advice i give to those with values-based diets who just want to live their values. once you mute these people from the discussion, you will find yourself to be more reflective than reactive. you'll have more time and space to think to take in information from experts, and come up with how you feel from your own research and thinking. the existence of ai, who are the stewards of it, and how they impact every aspect of society are very serious topics, and it's our responsibility to filter the noise around it accordingly.