AI/Automation Megathread

[Iconoclast]

I don't think that was ever really in doubt, outside a few fanatics and the willfully blind. AI and Automation have always reduced jobs, it's just that for a long time, instead of reducing total employment they reduced wages (The NBER study I linked to upthread concluded that 50-70% of all wage losses in the US since 1970* were caused by automation, the rest by globalism) so it was relatively easy to obfuscate for a while.

A couple of years back during the COVID lockdowns I lost my job and then took over for a retiring janitor's business. One thing that stood out to me was the banks, where two-thirds of the offices only needed dusting once a week because nobody ever used them. He told me thirty years ago when he started, all those offices were full every day. I fail to believe that this reduction was because the banking sector has shrunk and become less important over time.


*When computers started to enter the workplace, coincidentally also when real wages peaked and they immediately began dropping as soon as automation and AI became a thing.

We’re living through the backstory to Resilient Acceleration.

NationStates | The Lunatic Nerds of Resilient Acceleration | Factbook

www.nationstates.net

And this completely won't be used for covert surveillance against citizens by Big Government…

Imagine how this must be for living birds who encounter such an abomination. The human equivalent of this is like, Flayed Ones, or the Skin Bandits from Kenshi.

 

[colorles]

And this completely won't be used for covert surveillance against citizens by Big Government…

Really fucking disturbing.

Imagine what goes on behind closed doors...

 

[Bassoe]

And this completely won't be used for covert surveillance against citizens by Big Government…

The new approach for treating paranoid delusions by changing reality to match is creative, I'll give it that. Didn't James Morrow have a story about that?

Birds Aren't Real - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[colorles]

The new approach for treating paranoid delusions by changing reality to match is creative, I'll give it that. Didn't James Morrow have a story about that?

Birds Aren't Real - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

To be honest, there are probably already functional bird drones and a bunch of other macabre stuff the public doesn't know about and isn't meant to know about. Stories like this are designed to make people paranoid, nervous, on edge...people whose antics are then used to discredit the entire notion of "spying bird drones" altogether.

Not to mention, most people blatantly don't care if they are being spied on. And, the people that do care shouldn't be losing sleep over it. The enemy wants you to be on edge all the time.

 

[Terthna]

The fact that you think humanity will be just fine if such a massive game changer is allowed to develop makes me think your the one reading too much science fiction. Things are barely holding on to this side of sanity as it is.

Says the man who wants to murder people.

 

[DarthOne]

Says the man who wants to murder people.

Wrong. I don’t WANT to murder people. I just see it as the only way to put tha AI genie back in the bottle. And it would be a far lower death toll then what is coming.

 

[Terthna]

Wrong. I don’t WANT to murder people. I just see it as the only way to put tha AI genie back in the bottle. And it would be a far lower death toll then what is coming.

Except that's an assumption on your part; one you could very well be completely wrong about, and have so far failed to convince anyone else of. My suggestion is to try constructing a better argument before you start planning out the assassination of random programmers "for the good of humanity"; because right now? I'm about a hair's breadth from just reporting you to the police and washing my hands of you.

 

[colorles]

Except that's an assumption on your part; one you could very well be completely wrong about, and have so far failed to convince anyone else of. My suggestion is to try constructing a better argument before you start planning out the assassination of random programmers "for the good of humanity"; because right now? I'm about a hair's breadth from just reporting you to the police and washing my hands of you.

Now, wait a minute. DarthOne didn't say downright that he is going to do those things. He was merely stating his view point on a scary and divisive subject matter. View points most here don't seem to agree with on both practical and ethical levels; but, a counter view point nonetheless and those should always be encouraged lest this place become an echo chamber.

Our enemies have no problem mutilating and murdering us.

 

[Terthna]

Now, wait a minute. DarthOne didn't say downright that he is going to do those things. He was merely stating his view point on a scary and divisive subject matter. View points most here don't seem to agree with on both practical and ethical levels; but, a counter view point nonetheless and those should always be encouraged less this place become an echo chamber.

Our enemies have no problem mutilating and murdering us.

They'd also have no issue grooming some crazy bastard into killing a bunch of innocent people, so that they could use them as an excuse to crack down on everyone even remotely associated with them. I'm all for discussing alternative view points; but talk about killing people (not even for shit they actually did; but because of what they might end up creating according to one guy's paranoid delusions) needs to squashed immediately.

 

[DarthOne]

They'd also have no issue grooming some crazy bastard into killing a bunch of innocent people, so that they could use them as an excuse to crack down on everyone even remotely associated with them. I'm all for discussing alternative view points; but talk about killing people (not even for shit they actually did; but because of what they might end up creating according to one guy's paranoid delusions) needs to squashed immediately.

I’m hardly going to go on a one man crusade against programmers. I know it would be counter productive and useless at best.

The reason I’m so alarmed and so willing to suggest that sort of thing as a solution is because of stuff like this and other things THASF has posted in this thread. Along with the sort of ideology the WEF and so on push.

Of both authoritarian control and population reduction.

We’re living through the backstory to Resilient Acceleration.

NationStates | The Lunatic Nerds of Resilient Acceleration | Factbook

www.nationstates.net

In sort, the reason I’m saying these things isn’t because I’m some murderous bloodthirsty maniac. It’s because I’m utterly terrified and don’t see how this ends well unless we stomp hard on the breaks.

 

[Iconoclast]

I’m hardly going to go on a one man crusade against programmers. I know it would be counter productive and useless at best.

The reason I’m so alarmed and so willing to suggest that sort of thing as a solution is because of stuff like this and other things THASF has posted in this thread. Along with the sort of ideology the WEF and so on push.

Of both authoritarian control and population reduction.



In sort, the reason I’m saying these things isn’t because I’m some murderous bloodthirsty maniac. It’s because I’m utterly terrified and don’t see how this ends well unless we stomp hard on the breaks.

Quick question. What do you think will happen if governments suddenly push austerity everywhere while wages continue stagnating and people keep missing basic life milestones like marriage and home ownership, all in the midst of Great Depression-level sustained GDP contraction?

If you were one of the Elites, what would you do to sustain the technological system and prevent a revolution that would lead to your replacement with a different elite, in this scenario?

Leave things as they are and do nothing? Whoops, capital flight rips away your tax base, which means austerity, which means populist revolt and guillotines being dragged out.

Kill everyone except your fellow Elites? No, you still need some human labor and innovation capacity to keep the scam going.

Oh! I know. Kill off the old, weak, crippled, and stupid with a virus and a poisoned vaccine, and then implant tracking devices under everyone’s skin to turn the whole planet into an open-air digital prison managed by AI where revolt is impossible.

Everything I said on SB ten years ago turned out to be true. It was all a fucking game. The American Dream of making six figures, living in a McMansion and owning an F-350 with a boat on a trailer behind it and having a spouse and two kids was just that: a dream. A carrot these sons of bitches dangled above our heads while they let us toil and line their pockets, just so they could pull up the ladder right at the eleventh hour and leave us stranded.

 

[DarthOne]

Quick question. What do you think will happen if governments suddenly push austerity everywhere while wages continue stagnating and people keep missing basic life milestones like marriage and home ownership, all in the midst of Great Depression-level sustained GDP contraction?

If you were one of the Elites, what would you do to sustain the technological system and prevent a revolution that would lead to your replacement with a different elite, in this scenario?

Leave things as they are and do nothing? Whoops, capital flight rips away your tax base, which means austerity, which means populist revolt and guillotines being dragged out.

Kill everyone except your fellow Elites? No, you still need some human labor and innovation capacity to keep the scam going.

Oh! I know. Kill off the old, weak, crippled, and stupid with a virus and a poisoned vaccine, and then implant tracking devices under everyone’s skin to turn the whole planet into an open-air digital prison managed by AI where revolt is impossible.

Everything I said on SB ten years ago turned out to be true. It was all a fucking game. The American Dream of making six figures, living in a McMansion and owning an F-350 with a boat on a trailer behind it and having a spouse and two kids was just that: a dream. A carrot these sons of bitches dangled above our heads while they let us toil and line their pockets, just so they could pull up the ladder right at the eleventh hour and leave us stranded.

Exactly.

 

[DarthOne]

ROBOT DOGS Deployed To Fight NYC Crime... Will This Work?

The Hound represents government control and manipulation of technology. Originally, dogs served as the rescuers for firemen. They were given the job of sniffing out the injured or weak. However, in this dystopia, the Hound has been made into a watchdog of society. Like the Furies, the Mechanical Hound has been programmed (by the government) to avenge and punish citizens who break society's rules. The ones who are not loyal to the rules must especially be punished, and the Hound serves as the enforcer of these rules.

-Fahrenheit 451

 

[LordDemiurge]

It’s because I’m utterly terrified and don’t see how this ends well unless we stomp hard on the breaks.

To put it simply, stopping technology in fear of social disruption is not a new sentiment, and more importantly it pretty much never works. Someone in the paradigm always defects and develops the technology. In developing that technology, they always outcompete their rival. Or worse they may end up the only one with that technology, having the resources to develop it themselves.

To us a term from the book Why Nations Fail, creative-destruction is necessary in society. In fact I suspect this is why we have articles like this making the round. Because so many tech investors ended up getting caught on the wayside and now they're demanding time outs to catch up on their own projects.

Oligarchs who want or have a monopoly on power always trend towards stifling innovation because their grip on power doesn't accommodate well to sudden changes. Everything always needs to move in lockstep with them.

 

[Scottty]

Oh! I know. Kill off the old, weak, crippled, and stupid with a virus and a poisoned vaccine, and then implant tracking devices under everyone’s skin to turn the whole planet into an open-air digital prison managed by AI where revolt is impossible.

People who want to turn "the whole planet" into the society of their dreams always run into the problem that they are not the only players in the game. There are rival powers with their own agendas.
China, I think, would be fine with the "AI-controlled open-air prison" idea as long as the CCP are the ones in charge. Not a bunch of geriatric round-eyes.
Russia as we know is pushing back against the West's efforts to control the world. And some countries that were for a long time close US allies are having second thoughts about that - some moving more towards being in the Russian camp.

In practice, history has shown that a nation that imposes stagnation and social immobility on it's own people becomes less able to even defend itself, let alone impose that same system on anywhere else.

 

[Yinko]

People who want to turn "the whole planet" into the society of their dreams always run into the problem that they are not the only players in the game. There are rival powers with their own agendas.

Bigger issue, other lands act as a pressure valve for your society. If everywhere is yours then there is no where to go to escape your rule, in which case the only recourse is rebellion.

 

[Bassoe]

To be honest, there are probably already functional bird drones...

Have been for two decades.

Give it an appropriate paintjob and keep it sufficiently distant and constantly moving to prevent anyone getting a good look and I can't imagine anyone wouldn't be fooled.

 

[Typhonis]

It isn't Bird drones you need to look out for. Think smaller way smaller. Look up drone insects and as a video pointed out imagine one armed with 3 grams of shaped explosive.

 

[DarthOne]

It isn't Bird drones you need to look out for. Think smaller way smaller. Look up drone insects and as a video pointed out imagine one armed with 3 grams of shaped explosive.

Mosquito laser - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Get this working and problem solved.

 

[Bear Ribs]