
Should we be afraid of AI? - tonybeltramelli
https://aeon.co/essays/true-ai-is-both-logically-possible-and-utterly-implausible
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YeGoblynQueenne
I'll keep this from the article:

>> We share the infosphere with digital technologies. These are ordinary
artefacts that outperform us in ever more tasks, despite being no cleverer
than a toaster. Their abilities are humbling and make us reevaluate human
exceptionality and our special role in the Universe, which remains unique. We
thought we were smart because we could play chess. Now a phone plays better
than a Grandmaster. We thought we were free because we could buy whatever we
wished. Now our spending patterns are predicted by devices as thick as a
plank.

More to the point, we don't need superintelligence to do great damage to
ourselves, and possibly even destroy ourselves. A machine that's thick as a
brick and in control of vital systems will cause disaster already.

My worry with all that is that the hype that surrounds AI risks keeping us
from realising this and trusting dumb technology to do work that requires real
intelligence.

Edit: Oh dear. Also, this:

 _What’s the difference [between yourself and AlphaGo]? The same as between
you and the dishwasher when washing the dishes._

ZOMG did that guy just say AlphaGo is no smarter than your dishwasher? Oh yes
he did! And he's totally right.

