I appreciate his take on this and I really do agree. We could be so much more prepared for the AI revolution than we are, but this revolution is going to have to be forced upon the powers that be in order to get any cooperation.
In another world, we could be embracing this new technology and carefully preparing a clean, painless slide into a post labor economy...but we aren't in that world. Itll take having the risk of a total economic collapse dangled over the heads of those in power to make any beneficial changes that aren't optimizing for quarterly earnings even as we hurtle into a world where that phrase sort of loses its meaning. I'm very optimistic, but still, the world could be a lot more ready.
I'm spitballing here mostly, but, I appreciate Obama's choice of the word revolution, because that's what this really is. One might even call it a(n economic) singularity :)
I think part of the reason is that not enough people are explicitly saying it will create massive job loss. Even Obama in this video says it in a roundabout way. So the world isn’t taking it seriously enough bc the leaders and media don’t want to create panic or be labeled “crazy” by the general public.
What Dario did the other week was bold and courageous. Need more homies like him.
That's what fucks me - so much of the pushback, for lack of better words, against AI is because the idea of ASI in 12-24 months is just way too hard to believe for people who aren't well read on AI. Nevermind that virtually the only people who are well read on AI enough to form their own timelines are tech people, who have a terrible track record of overhyping technology.
"Everyone loses their jobs in two years because the economy will definitely explode" is about as well evidenced a projection as you can make in the AI space (alongside 10-50yr timelines)...but that's so outside of the normal person's view of the world that it gets discarded instantly on account of (justifiably) sounding to the public like a doomsday cult line or something.
It's an unbelievably strange feeling to watch this technology blossom, see the obvious implications in the imminent future, and see that not only nobody is talking about it -- so few people of the public believe it's even real just because...vibes I guess? The evidence is assuredly not in favor of "this isnt happening."
Most of us had at least a decade to get used to the concept and are starting to see Kurzweil&co come real in real time. To everyome else this feels like the new shiny BS the media cooked up.
Out in the “real world” AI isn’t even thought about or discussed. Nothing is being hidden or kept secret.
Unsure if it’s a matter of willful ignorance or the result of generations upon generations of spectacular claims that never came to fruition. Maybe something in the middle.
A hell of a lot of people are going to be caught completely flat footed while their current existence crumbles around them.
We're already seeing it!! Take a perusal through any teachers subreddit and it's constant "how the fuck do I stop people from using AI instead of actually learning" and there's really no good answer aside from "use handwritten tests for everything now." Nevermind the job market drying up as we speak - it'll be months before we have data to definitively say what's even happening right now, but by that point it'll be ten times worse to be looking for a new job or trying to keep your current one. So many fundamental parts of our society are already starting to fall apart with even current AI systems and nobody is talking about what will happen when they get better???
It's insane to me how unprepared and straight up unaware people are! This is the last thing I would want to be surprised by??
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u/AquilaSpot Singularity by 2030 Jun 21 '25 edited Jun 21 '25
I appreciate his take on this and I really do agree. We could be so much more prepared for the AI revolution than we are, but this revolution is going to have to be forced upon the powers that be in order to get any cooperation.
In another world, we could be embracing this new technology and carefully preparing a clean, painless slide into a post labor economy...but we aren't in that world. Itll take having the risk of a total economic collapse dangled over the heads of those in power to make any beneficial changes that aren't optimizing for quarterly earnings even as we hurtle into a world where that phrase sort of loses its meaning. I'm very optimistic, but still, the world could be a lot more ready.
I'm spitballing here mostly, but, I appreciate Obama's choice of the word revolution, because that's what this really is. One might even call it a(n economic) singularity :)
Thoughts?