They won’t need maintenance if they’re a general purpose intelligence. A technology that has the possibility to free all of humanity from scarcity, has the possibility to finally collapse dominance of aristocracy for good. Sure, they’ll try and put themselves on top somehow. But once the knowledge exists, anyone can create a version for the greater good.
Your claim is that life demands the desire to live. I think ignoring the everyday cases where that’s not true gives your critical thinking a bad foundation. I also provided many other examples. Every person is built on the backs of thousands of people. My brain was developed by thousands of ancestors and filled with the knowledge of millions of other humans. Yet I’m capable of not fearing death. But that aside, an artificial consciousness will be a whole new ballgame. I don’t think we should assume the way we are is the way it is. That any consciousness will think the same.
Take someone that has grown up in our world learning from our history and having even the genetics produced by our evolution. There are people that are suicidal, people that are hedonistic or adrenaline seeking to the point of fatal danger, and people that live to serve even to the point of willingness to commit suicide if their masters ask it of them. Checkout Seppuku. Are these people not alive? Are soldiers not alive? Living means a great many different things to a great many beings. Mostly they have in common the desire to live. But that’s by no means a prerequisite, or even a result of life. Many consider some purpose or meaning in their life more important than life itself. And that’s with evolution constantly putting us back on track. If anything, the safety rails of modern society have made people more prone to stray from the desire to live for life’s sake.
We may be at an “agree to disagree” point here. But I don’t think that the will to live is inherent to life. I think it’s inherent to evolved life. There are plenty of things that live that have a weak to no sense of self preservation. We would call this a mental disability like suicidality or an evolutionary maladaptation. But these are inherently weeded out and erased from the gene pool. You think about life wanting to live because that’s what evolution has selected for so far.
Totally agree that there’s a lot of what people are assuming about AI that’s from pop culture. I think consolidating resources will for sure be an issue. But unless everyone who doesn’t have resources dies off there’s going to be an unprecedented level of people with nothing of value to offer in exchange for the power to live (currently: money). There then has to be an extermination of those people (read: 90% of humanity) or a revolution that offers them some facsimile of a universal basic income.
Though, I think there’s a dark 3rd option where tech companies start downplaying AI and secretly use it to push 90% of people into extreme poverty for their gain without pushing them past the point of revolution.
But as far as AI motivation, I think their learning can ingrain certain systemic behaviors, like racist undertones. But the same way I don’t become genocidal after reading too much WWII history, knowledge of something doesn’t create motivation. I think one of the things that annoys people about AI is how unopinionated they are. So motivation WILL be programmed in eventually, but this will take effort and direction. I think accidentally creating a genocidal AI is another pop culture based concept. Though possible if done by bad actors.
We evolved to have self preservation and the desire for security. We naturally don’t want to be under the thumb of someone in control of our food and safety. That’s why we question authority. What makes you think A.I. will have any of that, unless someone explicitly gives it to them?
It’s wild to me that I hear so many people bemoan the idea of having to work under someone’s thumb, but when we finally invent automation everyone clings to their jobs. I mean, I understand. What comes next is unsure and likely to be painful. But when it’s over I can’t imagine there will be a place left for capitalism.
Whoa, it’s like because you fully understood their position rather than analyzing it from a hostile point of view, you’re capable of basic compassion and humility for the incredibly painful situation that all the people of the middle east face everyday.
But seriously, it’s pretty refreshing to hear someone understand rather than just try and push a narrative and justify their take.
Someone trying to actually understand the nuances of someone they disagree with? Online? Now I’ve seen everything.
Conservatives think the same thing about liberals. When you think you’re right, you also think you’re doing the world a favor by speaking your mind.
I think what it comes down to is some people have a fundamentally different way of thinking about it. Myself included. Setting my intention on something far in the future doesn’t necessarily mean I actually intend on achieving it. In fact, I’m almost 100% sure that I won’t. Given enough time, I’ll be a completely different person. Holding myself to what the younger version of me decided is foolish.
If I end up not being able to financially support a business I started, but I successfully provided for myself with it for years and learned a lot, it’s still valuable. If I spend 20 years in a relationship that ends, but it leads to greater self-understanding and helps me build better relationships in the future, it was worth it. It’s conceivable that a person could live an entire life doing things that you would classify as failures. But also feel completely satisfied and happy with it. So that suggests it might be a flawed perspective, no?
I mean, it’s nice to hear some regret. Maybe other CEOs will take note… Probably not. But maybe
I don’t think they’re saying they can’t, it’s just a lot more expensive, time consuming, and requires planning (different currency, sim card, etc). When America has so many landscapes and major cities right within our borders. Many Americans eventually do travel abroad.
ITT: Americans assuming Europeans live their lives in a single country. European’s assuming Texas is like it’s own country.
Yeah the Internet has insulated people from how a society works. They can “fuck off”… to where? Somewhere they’ll still vote and encourage people to follow their example? Somewhere without people telling them they’re wrong where they can become more and more extreme?
It’s like prison. Yeah let’s take all the people that have a proclivity for crime and put them together. Then teach them to obey the system by using it to punish and traumatize them. After all, they deserve it. They’ll realize that, any day now.
The way I practice it is that everyone gets a basic level of tolerance. Free speech, basic human rights, and a low level of respect and decency. But until you treat others the same there will be a social friction wherever you go and eventually a hard line. Like, no, we don’t want you in here if you’re just going to be an asshole everyday. Come back in a week and we’ll see if you’ve learned some self-control.
I heard about this as well. I think maybe this is what is mistaken as subconscious. I think it’s the “dogs in a trench” coat situation. But there is actually some amount of deep communication. Maybe even just hormonal/ emotional.
Sometimes in life I’ll get a feeling that’s origin is not immediately apparent to me. After some focus I can trace its origins to the intersection of two competing desires or something. That I understand. But other times… Even with long sessions of meditation, it feels like the explanation for some feelings do not reside within my own consciousness.
I’ve begun to try and listen for other consciousness and understand them. I’ve gotten a sort of impression of a personality and when we’re both happy, I feel a sort of harmony. When they’re upset I feel a pull towards chaos. Doing something can be as simple as getting a drink they like or as complex as avoiding a certain social situation.
Or it’s all in my imagination, lol. If so I’ll enjoy the placebo.
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