I think we should be rooting for OpenAI or Google to get there before the Chinese or Russians. Slowing down will only increase the chance that some authoritarian regime gets there first.

And in the meantime, the US ought to think long and hard about forming a New Manhattan Project centered around the race to AGI. Some form of collaboration between the great American AI companies (Google, Open AI, Meta?, Amazon?, etc.) and the US government is what I'm looking for. But red tape from the government is an absolute non-starter.

That's a really interesting idea I hadn't considered. Are you aware of any articles that further discuss this?

I think AGI/ASI could help quite a bit. However, it's worth noting that some percentage of mental disorders are environmentally-driven (e.g. it's no surprise that someone who was abused as a child is more likely to suffer from mental disease).

To some extent, I suspect that type of thing sticks with you unless your neural implant decides to kill the bad memories altogether. But that raises interesting questions and could lead to unintended consequences.

It's pretty wild how poor adult math knowledge can be (at least in the United States).

I think we are approaching the point where "learning for the sake of learning" might well be better than the advice of "learning for the sake of earning." If you've got younger kids, it's pretty hard to imagine what their livelihoods will look like in 10-15 years.

I'm not sure a month will do because I'm ignorant. But even if five years of training establishes AI competence in a field like the law, that is a huge impact. If I were advising a 20 year-old who wants to go to law school right now, I'm not sure what I'd say other than try working in a law firm before you make the commitment and pay very close attention to AI.

It's true. Office Space is real (at least in some corners of the white-collar world). That's why it's a cult classic.

What a great and insightful post. I think you are largely on point. Our smart devices are about to get a whole lot smarter. It's not unreasonable to think we could all have something approaching a JARVIS-level intelligence (see Ironman) in our home by 2030.

ChatGPT is just the beginning. It tends to hallucinate quite a bit with difficult questions, but it can maintain a conversation better than many humans. And it's willing to be educated and admit mistakes. Later iterations from OpenAI and similar iterations from other sources (i.e. within the next 18 months) are likely to take substantial steps forward.

It's crazy that the larger public is largely unaware of what appears to be happening (although John Oliver's segment on Last Week Tonight will no doubt raise awareness).

I liked the story. These LLMs are already remarkable. Hard to imagine where things are heading. But I'm curious as heck to see how things turn out. Here's what ChatGPT had to say in response to the following prompt:

Write a nice response in Reddit to the following story [copied your ChatGPT story]:

Wow, what an incredible story! Thank you for sharing your experience with us. It's fascinating to hear about your experiment with the brain-computer interface and the unexpected results that followed.

It's amazing to think about the potential of technology and how it could change our lives in ways we can't even imagine. Your story certainly brings up some interesting questions about the nature of consciousness and the relationship between humans and machines.

It's also intriguing to hear about your communication with the future AI system and the insights it has given you. While some may be skeptical of such claims, it's important to keep an open mind and consider the possibilities that advanced technology could bring.

Thank you again for sharing your story with us. It's truly mind-blowing, and I'm sure it will inspire many others to think about the future of technology and its potential impact on our lives.

I don't think it's laziness exactly. For a few people, work is a vocation and it's wonderful. For many people, work kind of sucks!

Now it's true that some people will idle away their days in a dopamine-infused stupor (click, click, click) should work no longer be required. But others will pursue passion projects they otherwise could not. Work sometimes gets in the way of living. It could be better for a lot of people (almost certainly a majority) if work becomes unnecessary.