Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

icepush t1_j8nvrhy wrote

Reply to comment by wastedtime32 in What will the singularity mean? Why are we persuing it? by wastedtime32

  1. Curiosity. Everyone will know everything. You will have the answer to every question and wonder you ever had. You will know everything about every person you have ever wondered about. Everyone will know everything there is to know about you.

  2. Power. Everything that is possible will be possible for everyone. Everyone will have the ability to acomplish anything and everything.

  3. Convenience. You will not have to do things like write or talk or speak, rather simply think your thought and everyone will know it immediately. You will know everyone elses thoughts immediately as well.

These are just some reasons. I think there are people who will choose not to merge and disappear from existence.

Note that I am not saying these are things people WANT to do - but, rather they will do it because everyone else is doing it.

1

wastedtime32 OP t1_j8ny3on wrote

But, why? Do you believe there is some supernatural force that will inevitably lead to this no matter what? This could very well mean the end of the human race. It’s a pretty easy picture to paint. Everything about this is dystopian. I have a hard time imagining people who desire for this kind of world who haven’t become completely socially alienated from the modern world, so they have no connection to it. I myself have felt very alienated at time but I still see the value in maintaining certain things. If the pioneers of this tech really valued humanity, they would understand the concept of sustainability. There are certain sacrifice we have to make in order to make sure we survive and thrive. To create a existential threat to our own existence out of pure curiosity seems like the most diabolical and extreme possible form of cognitive dissonance. I’m not ignoring all the “good” Ai has and can bring us. But it’s a fact that ethics is the last fucking thing these people are concerned with. Is it about money? I find the entire premise to be absolutely absurd and unhinged and psychotic. Whatever happened to a democratic society? The majority of people do not want this future. But the people who do are more powerful than the rest. It’s a suck fucking game. It’s the same game that got us to the point of ecological destruction and mass extinction and eventual resource depletion.

I. Just. Don’t. Get. It.

1

icepush t1_j8nz4cx wrote

It is the forces of economics and also competition, cooperation, and scarcity.

This has been the ultimate fate of humanity since the first caveman invented fire.

I only realized this in early January when I was trying out ChatGPT. It took me a bit if time to fully digest and pontificate on the implications.

Imagine you have some kind of trade - like you are a homebuilder. Somebody invents a tool that allows people that have it to build a home 20% faster. Well, everyone that doesn't use that tool slowly gets driven out of business by the people that do.

It is the same idea with all of the technological advancements - fire, weapons, armor, transportation, computers, the internet, smartphones, etc.

If you are trying to schedule a meeting with somebody, and your choices are to either send them a text message and wait for them to respond, or just merge into a single unified entity with them so you can schedule, begin, and complete your meeting instantly, the second one will win out over time.

1