
Pope urges Silicon Valley to avoid slide toward new “barbarism” - lnguyen
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-vatican-technology-ethics/pope-urges-silicon-valley-to-avoid-slide-toward-new-barbarism-idUSKBN1WC11N
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mattigames
Of all people that could talk about the matter it had to be the one that
protects and encovers pedophiles, that a few centuries ago burned homosexuals
and atheists alive, and they didn't stop because they realized it was wrong
they only stopped because they lost political power after too many conflicts,
one of the remaining institutions that keeps alive one of the biggest pilars
of human stupidity which is believing in things just because, with arguments
just as strongh as kids have arguments for Santa Claus and we are supposed to
take them seriously? Listening to Tom Cruise as the head of Scientology would
make as much sense.

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diegoholiveira
> one of the remaining institutions that keeps alive one of the biggest pilars
> of human stupidity

Every single thing that you value as a higher moral standing came from that
institution.

~~~
redact207
Since most other cultures in the world figured out the whole don't murder and
rape thing, I wouldn't say the Catholic church is the common denominator.

~~~
esyir
I... Wouldn't quite jump to that.

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drusepth
I'll save you a click: the "barbarism" in the clickbait title is incorrect
usages of "technological advances such as artificial intelligence where the
law of the strongest prevails over the common good" (article's paraphrasing,
not Pope's words).

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jhanschoo
I don't think it's paraphrasing since those are quoted. Literally, in the lead
paragraph,

> Pope Francis urged Silicon Valley giants on Friday to make sure
> technological advances such as artificial intelligence do not lead to a new
> “form of barbarism” where the law of the strongest prevails over the common
> good.

Unfortunately the minutes are unavailable afaict.

~~~
drusepth
Thanks for clarifying. I was just specifying my quote above was from the
article text, not a direct quote from the Pope.

FWIW, the actual quote from the Pope follows:

>"If mankind’s so-called technological progress were to become an enemy of the
common good, this would lead to an unfortunate regression to a form of
barbarism dictated by the law of the strongest"

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gen3
I give the Pope credit on trying to keep up with tech. I clicked expecting to
find something completely out of touch or off basis, and was pleasantly
surprised.

The more people talking about the effects of filter bubbles and the effects of
our currently internet connected lives the better. I hope this opens a wider
discussion with people who have less of a tech background, and encourages them
to become more aware of the effects it has.

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presidentscroob
Community (solidarity, cooperation, concern for others and knowing one's
neighbors) is in steep decline in most of the US for many reasons, and
especially in Silicon Valley because the vast majority of its denizens aren't
settling permanently but are just in town temporarily to earn an income, so
they care less about their surroundings or anyone else but themselves.
Furthermore, higher income leads people to care less about others. (UC
Berkeley Monopoly experiments)

Possible solutions:

\- There ought to be a modern replacement for churches (the Atheist
unchurches, multi-denominational churches), which were the focal points of
communities for centuries.

\- Civic involvement in local law-making and local concerns.

\- Putting screens away to prioritize human interaction.

\- Revive the art of small-talk.

\- Less polarized/political interactions, seeking understanding of others'
points of view (you can't persuade true believers of anything new if they're
already in violent agreement).

\- Take the lead to create new leagues for group activities: bowling,
skiing/snowboarding, ultimate frisbee, etc.

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traderjane
In order for people to be in a town permanently the town must provide
sufficient and affordable living opportunities for all its citizens. The town
must also have a robust vision for young professionals, family life, and
senior care, otherwise it's a town which cannot handle the full path of life.

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jhanschoo
My two cents:

> He warned of the dangers of the use of artificial intelligence “to circulate
> tendentious opinions and false data that could poison public debates and
> even manipulate the opinions of millions of people, to the point of
> endangering the very institutions that guarantee peaceful civil
> coexistence”.

The current relation between AI and opinion manipulation is actually more
nuanced than what I think the Pope perceives. On the one hand, large companies
use algorithms (some falling under AI) to shape conversations on their
platform, and do so with intentions that cannot easily be called immoral. On
the other hand, the primary purveyors of manipulative content that weaken
civil society exploit the algorithms in ways their design did not anticipate
or intend.

Example: FB's algorithm for surfacing content is not clearly immoral, but
malicious groups SEO content that is harmful to civil society when deployed
large-scale, so that the content is deployed large-scale on the platform.

Edit, addendum:

I think the Pope's understanding of the relationship between AI and
manipulative content is influenced by the news cycle's reporting on matters
such as GPT-2, deepfakes, Musk's wild claims about AI. My understanding is
that AI being used for clearly immoral ends is not widespread in SV companies.

On the other hand, reporting on Xinjiang frequently describes facial
recognition and other AI technologies being used to surveil, discipline,
control and punish the lives of minorities there. If there is a current and
successful user of AI technologies for clearly immoral ends, that would be the
PRC in West China. If there should be an audience to which technological
advances enables

> a new “form of barbarism” where the law of the strongest prevails over the
> common good

it would be to the PRC.

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ludamad
There's a lot of talk here that is about the Catholic Church, but I appreciate
this just as a statement from a highly influential figure that is not off
base. There's a ring of truth that merciless optimization applied to human
perception objectives is a dangerous area

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wideasleep1
I suppose Pope Francis hasn't been on Twitter recently..too little too late.

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kylek
Should take a hint from @DalaiLama

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arduanika
stick to the old barbarism. worst possible outcome is you'll be shuffled to a
different diocese

