From: J. R. Molloy (jr@shasta.com)
Date: Mon Sep 25 2000 - 17:48:31 MDT
Samantha Atkins writes,
> I do get this. And yet it still seems that even if we can't convince
> them its coming or get them to really understand what that means (though
> who knows?) if they are convinced, that we owe it to them to do our best
> to make sure they aren't run over and that they are actually benefitted
> (as a minimum).
"we owe it to them"? And what do they owe us? What have they done (lately) to
promote and extend the cognitive sciences? What have they done to advance and
enlarge the store of human knowledge? Never mind... Forget them... let's ask
ourselves what *we've* done to bring the world closer to TS.
> Well, the extremes are both unlikely. I would suspect it is somewhere
> in between, it will make its own mistakes. But I find it very unlikely
> that the masses will not be manipulated against those "selfish,
> egotistical scientists" who let this thing loose in their midst.
Who will do the manipulating? ...and how will they manage to manipulate "the
masses" more effectively than the AI can do so?
> Sure. But what of the humans who will be even more largely out of work
> and feel/be even more redundant? How will you organize society so that
> these folks get taken care of so that they don't see this as a
> tremendous threat and possibly the end of their own means of survival?
It's called capitalism. Buggy whip makers had to adjust to the invention of the
automobile, and tomorrow's workers (especially knowledge workers) will need to
adjust to the invention of AI.
> If that is and continues to be *all* that makes the world go 'round then
> we all end up on the trash-heap of history in the very short run. A
> great motivation to do the R&D isn't it?
Not the way I see it. Since money is what makes the world go 'round, best get to
making plenty of it. The very best motivation to do the R&D that will enable you
to make the most of it. (Max More seems to have grok'd this long ago.)
--J. R.
"The history of woman is the history of the worst form of tyranny the
world has every known; the tyranny of the weak over the strong. It is
the only tyranny that lasts."
--Oscar Wilde
[Amara Graps Collection]
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