The TLDR take: now that humans are no longer required for thinking, we will switch to something other than usage of our brains.
Eating, apparently, is completely optional for humans :-/
Just a thing to remember: our intelligence made us the apex predator on this planet. Is there any reason to believe that a superior intelligence, whether man-made or extraterrestrial, won't become the apex predator?
That’s not really what it’s saying. The analogy it draws is between subsistence farmers and subsistence thinkers aka white collar workers/paper pushers etc. The argument would be that repetitive, brainless thinking will no longer be required (not thinking in general), so people will be freed up for currently unimaginable cognitive pursuits.
> The argument would be that repetitive, brainless thinking will no longer be required (not thinking in general), so people will be freed up for currently unimaginable cognitive pursuits.
That's a facile, superficial "argument" that is currently being made by everyone who is pro-AI when confronted with any claim of AI pushing humans out of the economy.
At this point in time, it's reasonable to dismiss the argument rather than engaging it, because each time this argument is made the proponent of the argument is completely mute on the fact that humans work to eat.
That's a big underlying counterargument, and no one making the argument is engaging with the counter-argument, they are instead setting up strawman counter-arguments.
But… that’s exactly the substance of this argument. I’m not sold on the full extent of the metaphor and I’m definitely not out here cheerleading AI, but the central argument of this article is this analogy: when you say “but humans work to eat” you’re echoing exactly the concerns during the Industrial Revolution (slash advent of capitalism, depending how you and the article want to look at it).
Will that analogy hold? Who knows. But it’s more than a facile AI bro saying AI is bringing us a utopia. The article even raises a key part of the analogy: the transition to industry and capitalism (and the resulting freed up labor) led to an unprecedented wave of revolutions and death.
> The argument would be that repetitive, brainless thinking will no longer be required, so people will be freed up for currently unimaginable cognitive pursuits.
Like what?
1. AI isn't going to stop at "repetitive, brainless thinking," just ask the math professors.
2. Even if that's true, is everyone capable of these "currently unimaginable cognitive pursuits"? Oh, there will still be cognitive work for the top-0.1% smartest people is little consolation to the other 99.9%.
3. That argument is basically trying to console people with a combination of "trust us" and the underpants gnome business plan ("1. Collect underpants, 2. ?, 3. Profit).
1. Yeah, I’m not fully sold on the argument. I’m also oversimplifying it quite a bit by saying it’s just “brainless, repetitive.” That’s just where it’s obvious. But at the same time, my understanding of 95% of the current math results is that they are sort of the result of AI doing dull repetitive theory work, rather than inspired novel thinking. Either way, the article’s point is that the way we use intelligence to do work will change, not that the current cream of the crop will be unaffected.
2. A major and weird point of the article argues that most people are “stupid” because of a lack of incentives for intellectual labor. If you know you’re not that top 1%, why bother in school? If you’ve already missed the window for a fancy white collar job, why bother “thinking”? In this view, AI could have a democratizing effect on intellectual labor.
3. That does seem to be the upshot, but the author doesn’t seem to be very sympathetic to AI execs either (basically calling them rent seekers still in the mercantilist mindset despite developing the “transformative technology”). Still article doesn’t offer any path forward.
Eating, apparently, is completely optional for humans :-/
Just a thing to remember: our intelligence made us the apex predator on this planet. Is there any reason to believe that a superior intelligence, whether man-made or extraterrestrial, won't become the apex predator?