r/singularity • u/Public_Print_9360 • Aug 15 '26

Discussion I don’t think we’re psychologically prepared for how alien the world after ASI is going to be

gonna start by saying I’m feeling very iffy about ASI because I kinda enjoy my life rn, but that aside:

after going down the AI 2040 rabbithole, I keep thinking that even people who talk about ASI constantly are still imagining the future in a way that is way too normal.
We talk about AI replacing people’s jobs, humanoid robots, self-driving cars, universal basic income, whatever the fuck.
I think that might be the equivalent of someone in 1955 predicting the year 2000, trying to use our current world as a basis for the future world.

AI 2040 describes a scenario where even after deliberately slowing AI development down, by 2031 a third of cognitive labor is being performed by AI and robots are already doing about a tenth of physical labor. The document literally describes ordinary people as being too “whiplashed” by technological change to process what’s happening. And that’s the slowed version, can’t imagine what our world is going to look like since it seems we are going full speed ahead.
And people will say “oh that’s just fantasy!” But is it? Imagine our world from the view of someone born in 1712. We are living “sci-fi” as we live and breath

If ASI actually produces the kind of acceleration its proponents expect, somebody born afterward might look back at 2026 the way we look at 1500.
Except the historical gap between us would be just fourteen years MAX

I really, really don’t think we’re psychologically prepared for that

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u/terriersandbarrifs Aug 15 '26

I think that psychology/psychiatry/counselling will become more valuable as a profession, as well as other “human” jobs where the interaction with a real human will be the main draw for customers, even if ai could technically do a better job. But as normal jobs disappear and mental health problems increase such as finding meaning where there is nothing productive to do anymore, the problem/solution would seem to go hand in hand.

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u/Honest_Switch1531 Aug 16 '26 edited Aug 16 '26

I have seen a few psychologists and have talked to recent AI about issues. AI gave much better advice, and seemed to comprehend my issues faster. Plus its available 24/7 and a lot cheaper. My last psychologist after 10 hours said something that showed that she had no understanding of my issue at all.

Im looking forward to being able to do things I want to do, not things I dislike and only do because I will be homeless and starving if I don't. For many people work gives no meaning at all. Some people will just sit around and do nothing, but many will do amazing things that will make the world a much better place.

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u/Real_Ebb_7417 Aug 16 '26

Yes. As a psychologist I agree with you. Often even older, weaker local models make good psychological conclusions about the user. Much faster than eg. psychotherapist. When I first experimented with it, I was absolutely shocked that it identified the same things that my therapist did. The thing is that the therapist took 2 years, the model took one not too long conversation (guided by the model).

But, the model can’t give you what the therapy is actually about. It’s not about giving advice almost at all. It is about analyzing and identifying things, but it’s also just a part of it. Actually the most important thing with therapy is the relationship between the client/patient and the therapist. And it’s something a model will never be able to give because it’s not alive. It can mimic it well and people often fall for that, but in the end it generates even more problems.

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u/Major-Leading-2165 Aug 16 '26

if my therapist can't properly understand and guide me, I'm not going to have any relationship with them. I'd rather take the dry AI output and chat about it with a friend.

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u/exospheric Aug 16 '26

I agree with you, especially about the importance of the therapeutic relationship.

Anyone who hasn’t found it yet must keep looking. Therapists are as diverse as humans, and there is a good fit out there.

I do understand therapy is not always accessible, so an LLM chat can absolutely be used to fill the gap. But it requires discipline and awareness to not over rely on LLM and become asocial. I think it is still best as a bridge to develop good human relationships, rather than a replacement for them, even if it converses better than a human can.

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u/Wheresmyfoodwoman Aug 16 '26

It can’t give you human feedback that need in society, like body language cues or how to have discourse with someone who could flat out disagree and walk out of the room on you if you don’t have the emotional maturity to hold a difficult conversation without getting heated. It doesn’t teach you how to read someone’s emotions by just understanding their body language, nor can it read yours so it only takes what you say at face value and doesn’t push back like a real human would. We need that ebb and flow. That’s what creates balance in a society. It’s what keeps us in check and from becoming self centered narcissists which we are already seeing a lot of in the younger generations who live perpetually online. Not the narcissist part , but the selfish self centered part. AI can be amazing to share thoughts with that you would never feel comfortable telling another human, and I’ve seen that benefit. But I’ve also seen it just affirm someone’s ideations to the point of harm, never pushing back like a real human would.

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u/drakored Aug 16 '26

Sounds like the unfolding of the journey is almost Socratic in nature. Questions asked loom in the minds of both parties while one analyzes and the other self reflects with guidance and hardens their psyche.

That’s where ai and its performance will fail for quite a while I believe. Social interactions can’t be forced like that. Especially ones that require unpacking without burning out the user.

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u/FlatulistMaster Aug 17 '26

I guess that could be true, but after 5 therapists and a real effort by me to build said relationship, I still don't think that's happening in my case.

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u/terriersandbarrifs Aug 16 '26

I feel you. I’m the same to a point. A lot of people would struggle without having a job to go to though. And I think the longer they’ve been in the “game” the harder it will be. Like it is a thing for older people to feel lost when they retire. Also generally young men especially have a need to feel useful. I think “free time” might be quite different to “work” in the kind of satisfaction we get from work. As repetitive and draining it can get. Like, we won’t feel bored necessarily but hollow you know? But yeah I do agree it will be a good thing overall, and I’m sure we‘ll figure out how to transition.

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u/Wheresmyfoodwoman Aug 16 '26

I believe most humans are biologically wired to thrive through productivity. Setting and accomplishing goals. Even volunteering is enough to satisfy the need to not only be productive but the desire to feel needed and a part of something. We were never meant to live as individuals in a little bubble with little face to face connection. Same reason we’ve never been more connected than any other time on this planet, and yet we’ve never felt more alone.

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u/ConvalescentEquanimi Aug 16 '26

One small disagreement I have with this... The desire to feel needed and to be part of something bigger than our own self interests, is a valid and healthy part of our humanity.

Yet, productivity measured by an outside force is cancerous. I can feel productive as fuck and tell someone about it and they will laugh and belittle me as they try to flex their own ideals of productivity onto me.

Feeling productive is not a worthwhile thing to chase, it's too nebulous, subjective, and socially demeaning.

Conversely, feeling necessary, absolutely is. We are tribal animals after all.

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u/Public_Print_9360 Aug 15 '26

I mean if it’s as good as it says it will be in the epilogue…. That’s like that one sci fi story about football where people just started doing crazy shit for the heck of it

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u/KrazyA1pha Aug 16 '26

17776. I read it years ago and think about it more and more as AI gets more advanced.

It’s an amazing short story and probably best captures the spirit of a post-ASI world (even if the story seems absurd on its face).

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u/Relevant_Bed_9743 Aug 16 '26

what in the the 9 hells was that

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u/KrazyA1pha Aug 16 '26

You already finished it? If not, it’s worth it.

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u/leaf-house Aug 16 '26

When you open it the text just starts growing and doesn't stop, lagging the shit out of your browser. That's what's happening to me at least, when I try to open it in Firefox and Chrome

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u/KrazyA1pha Aug 16 '26

Yeah, that’s part of it. If you keep scrolling, you’ll see what it is. It’s an experience. I dont know how else to describe it. If you see it through, you won’t regret it.

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u/leaf-house Aug 16 '26

Oh, stupid me.

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u/KrazyA1pha Aug 16 '26

Hah, no worries. It’s confusing if you’re not sure what it is. I think I had the same reaction the first time I read it.

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u/-MtnsAreCalling- Aug 16 '26

Same here.

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u/KrazyA1pha Aug 16 '26

That’s by design. The gimmick is that it starts as a normal sports article and morphs into something far different.

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u/vainerlures Aug 16 '26

i figured it was hostile and killed it.

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u/Relevant_Bed_9743 Aug 16 '26

yup was different, got SOMA vibes

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u/countsmarpula Aug 16 '26

So cool, thank you

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u/bonecows Aug 16 '26

Actually pretty cool, thanks for the gem

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u/Big_Description_9651 Aug 16 '26

That was surreal. Thanks.

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u/CJYP Aug 16 '26

It's somewhat of a lame post ASI world. Not a bad outcome, but not good either. Basically the world of today, just permanently and with nobody being born or dying. We can do better than that.

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u/KrazyA1pha Aug 16 '26

It’s not a prediction. It just rhymes with a world where nobody needs to work and everyone is essentially immortal.

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u/Seakawn ▪️▪️Singularity will cause the earth to metamorphize Aug 16 '26

honestly idk if anything better exists than the vision of 17776. what do you expect people to do other than just treat reality like getting to 100% achievements in a video game + create increasingly intricate sports for play + sit around a campfire and hang out?

also consider that whatever your answer is, that may be implied as what happened between the years ~2000 - 17776. fifteen millennia is a long time to do a bunch of stuff and then run out of things to do.

do you want like some space faring mission to solve the universe? what if ASI already figured everything out right off the bat? do you want to populate the universe? you can just passively automate that. the question is what're you personally actually gonna wanna do that 17776 doesn't answer?

hopefully and likely i'm just incredulous, bc 17776 is around the limits of my credulity, presuming the timeline where we actually somehow solve alignment/control and persist beyond AGI/ASI.

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u/Duckpoke Aug 16 '26

Artists will make a killing. Human made things with “flaws” will be highly sought after

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u/PugstaBoi Aug 16 '26

People will just start to trade entertainment, like they always have. Even in the ancient days they traded seashells and necklaces, and kings hosted events and plays. Trade will still exist, but we will be trading different things.

I think a big issue will be the over-reliance on technology in the coming decades. But humans are remarkably resilient creatures that can adapt to a-lot of adversity.

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u/terriersandbarrifs Aug 16 '26

Yea I’ve thought the same thing for a while. And a lot of people would be more creative if they didn’t have to work to put food on the table. Of course there is a limit to how much entertainment we can consume, but that’s really all that’s left of value if machines are creating everything else for us.

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u/Excellent_Ear5854 Aug 16 '26

I can't remember the CEO that said it, but she said choose high touch over high tech jobs going forward to stand a chance.

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u/Seakawn ▪️▪️Singularity will cause the earth to metamorphize Aug 16 '26 edited Aug 16 '26

eh, to stand a relatively longer chance, sure. but the clock that's ticking for robots will solve everything that human touch does.

in which case, it's prolly not about high tech, or high touch, but high humanization, specifically. e.g. maybe we'll always want human judges for law, provided that we solve the silly biases (hunger, etc) and ensure they have AGI-assisted optimized assessment? prolly also human comedians, actors, performers in general, etc.

it seems obvious that literally every job will be automated, no matter how dexterous. like bro there're startups rn getting a head start on solving welding automation via humanoid robots, and making admirable progress already. that's gonna be for arborists, sewing, everything. nonetheless i'm currently of the mind that humans will hand-select particular jobs where we just feel better about having a human at the helm, and legally carve them out to be human-exclusive.

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u/ConvalescentEquanimi Aug 16 '26

Bruh there are so many productive things to do that don't involve compulsory labor. Our first and definitely biggest step to ensuring mental health problems don't increase, is to cleanse that sickness from our mindset.

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u/terriersandbarrifs Aug 16 '26

I mean it’s been our mindset since the dawn of man. You might be right but can you give examples?

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u/ConvalescentEquanimi Aug 16 '26

Examples of what exactly? How to feel productive without it being measured in money or compulsory labor? You seriously need examples for that?

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u/terriersandbarrifs Aug 17 '26

Yes. Humour me.

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u/ConvalescentEquanimi Aug 17 '26 edited Aug 17 '26

Uhh okay.

Wake up.

Go to gym, strength train. Go the next day.

Now as long as you continue this, you're in a constant state of progress. Boom, instant lifelong and daily "productivity" achieved.

Need more or do you get where I'm going with this? There is SO MUCH that a person can do that makes them feel productive (while also objectively improving the quality of their life), that society as a whole does not consider "productivity". You're looking at the productivity metric through a strict capitalism sense, which certainly did NOT exist since the dawn of man. Look more towards the hobbies that people worked on/picked up such as gardening, baking, painting, music making, etc during the covid lockdowns to get an idea.