L'AIve and H'AIte

When I got into crypto, for some time I was probably that annoying guy who would mention it far too often and try and convince people it was the future, and that they might want to consider learning about it, and investing into it. You know the type. But, pretty soon I realised that in order to understand crypto, it took more than the average person. Not intelligence per se, but maybe willingness to learn and understand.

While I didn't shout it to the world, I spoke to a few people from my circles who tend to be from two career disciplines - tech and finance. What I found was that neither of the groups were open to learn, but everyone I spoke to had a strong opinion as to why crypto was valueless, would fail and anyone who invested in it was a sucker going to lose their money.

They were right.

From their perspective.

And that is as far as they ever looked. Essentially, they had blinders on that only let them see cryptocurrency from one standpoint. The finance people are so ingrained into the fiat system, that they couldn't imagine an alternative, let alone one backed by random people. And the tech people, well, they were so conditioned by ease of use and market-ready, that they couldn't take the tech seriously, as it was not on par with what was already available - it wasn't on par with what had been available a decade earlier.

While crypto has come a long way and still has a very long way to go before it is a one to one alternative for fiat and with tech to compare, I see the same kinds of conversations in another area.

Artificial intelligence.

On a general level, there is the for and against sides of the discussion, and in general, those for AI integration think that those against it are luddites who are unable to understand and see the future, or alarmists who have seen too many dystopic future movies. Whichever side one is on, the expectation is that the other side hasn't done their research. The problem with this approach is that there is no nuance, no understanding of different shades of the positions. It is black and white, for or against.

Whatever side you are on, I think it is worth considering why you believe the things you do about artificial intelligence. For some, they might think that it is inevitable, so may as well embrace it. Others, they might se how it makes some things easier in their life now, so they want more of the same. Some might see the harm to employment, while others might see the potential for financial reward, not caring about the possible harms. Whatever it is, people should know why they have their reasons. Put simply though, people have a hierarchy that that prioritizes gain or loss.

For me, as someone who has worked with AI for the last six years in a product that sells hundreds of millions worth each year, I have some idea as to why I am against some of it. Yes, there is an inevitability of its development, but that doesn't mean that it is going to be beneficial for all of humanity. Just like the development of most things, it is going to be used to maximize profit, which as we can already see in an economy that does this, is pretty shit for the average person.

And while the reasons I have are too numerous to go into here, another is for the people who believe it makes their life easier and want more of the same. AI is the ultimate competitive cognitive artefact. Which are technologies that improve our cognitive power, but leave us worse off without them. Your content creation might be easier at the moment, but if you aren't the one doing it, *it isn't yours. It is like a company that has chosen to outsource its key competitive advantage - they have made themselves redundant.

But it is convenient now...

Humans love easy. Love convenience. Love being able to reduce the workload and have more leisure time. And, one of the side-effects of this is that we also think conveniently, which is the same issue with the finance and tech people I mentioned above. Neither group wanted to research outside of their discipline to learn about the tech, the economics, or the social ramifications. Both groups aren't renowned for their social awareness (or care) about the impacts their discipline has on society. They just want advancement of what they know and understand now.

Their future only cares for gain.

And this makes people blind to all of the potential negatives. When there are profits to be had, our greed mechanisms kick in, and so does our willingness to look at the possibilities of what might go wrong. Even when we do look at what might go wrong, we underestimate the probability of it happening, or the potential consequences. History is littered with technological underestimations.

Ever made a judgement error?

Perhaps you went into the wrong career, or fell in love with the wrong person believing they were something other than you thought they were. But, these things are far less complex than the development and consequences of artificial intelligence. So, how certain are you about your opinion on things that are going to only show their true impacts decades down the path?

Maybe you don't care, because you will be dead by then.

And this is the problem with people who are developing technology for profit. Despite all the "trust me" statements, very little thought is put into the impacts it is going to have on society, if any at all. And, in the current economy, the best way to make profit is to undermine the masses, influence them to their own detriment, control them for gain. Artificial intelligence doesn't save us, it furthers our economic enslavement. It doesn't inherently do this, because it could be used for a lot of good also, but we have to look at the incentives in play, because that is the direction development will take.

We know this.

So, whether for or against artificial intelligence, understand your reasons why, and your reasoning behind that position. What most will probably find is that when they get to the core of their position, it will be for some kind of personal gain, or to mitigate some kind of personal risk. However, we are all going to be affected.

In a decade from today, will you still believe the same?

Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]