AI could be another. While I don't agree with everything Jaron Lanier says here―if Russia is using AI to sow division in this country it's a matter of carrying coals to Newcastle―he's right to emphasize that it's a human creation, rather than some alien new intelligence. Thus anything done by artificial intelligence, be it creative or destructive, is ultimately done by humans.
It's true that there's also a threat that we will downgrade human intelligence in order to make the machines look smarter. To an extent it's already happening. And the same principle could apply to creativity. If AI is now the best at creating stories, making art, making music, why should anyone put in the effort to be the next Debussy or Picasso? Especially if we assume they were all just abusive white males.
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They certainly managed to cause some damage around the millenium what with their GWOT but not quite enough. Then there was the financial meltdown in 2008 but they plugged that hole temporarily by bailing out the biggest players. Then came the practice of what used to be illegal when companies were allowed to buy back their stock rather than invest in the workforce. I'm sure you also remember the Occupy Movement of 2011 - a popular movement that got shut down fast. There are other more recent examples - like the Pestilence you mentioned - and the next version of racism that became reverse racism and the Alphabet people hysteria. There are all sorts of things going on to keep us confused - including some that are genuinely confusing ie, the war in Ukraine and the deliberate destruction of the European economy.
I agree with you Lanier's comment about Russia using computer programs to sow division in the West sounds irrelevant under the current circumstances. How much more division could there be without actual civil war? I also concur that GPT can be best compared to mashups of multiple conceptions rather than actually producing anything really unique. Of course, and unfortunately, people often prefer to be dazzled rather than think for themselves. The interview was interesting, he's a thoughtful well-informed man who is worth listening to.
I read another one earlier this morning written by a professional writer who shed a bit more light on the subject of just how 'intelligent' computer programs might be in relation to human creativity. It's not nearly as lengthy as the Unherd one but he made some pretty fascinating points.
Picasso's side-eyes alone were funnier than Hannah Gadsby.
The War on Terror was an early sign of things to come. Ennui, anomie, or a mix between the two. These other events do seem to continue its line of growth. One thing notable about Occupy was that it was an expansive movement, and a hopeful one. Since it was brought down activism has taken a bizarrely hostile turn, seeking to break society down into ever more mutually opposed cliques. The Ukraine War is perhaps the most expensive spectator sport in history, on a number of levels. And no, I don't understand why the European economy is being destroyed either. The US gives and the US takes away? But what then?
Yeah, that's the thing about Active Measures and the panicked response to them. Russians may be targeting propaganda to some groups of Americans, although often it's hard to narrow origins down beyond "somewhere in Eastern Europe." But suppose you were able to weed all that out? Would that make the tone of politics appreciably more positive? Or media more trustworthy? I think not. Corporate structures have not been shy about denigrating human capabilities. I think both the apocalyptic fear of and deferential attitude toward AI is a sign that many people have internalized that disdain. I've appreciated Lanier for a while because he works with tech but doesn't see it as the end-all and be-all.
Interesting perspective from Dublin. It's a good point that most students are in positions where using ChatGPT to write their papers seems to make sense, because they're not participating in their educations so much as marking time until school ends.
I sometimes suspect that Gadsby's entire reputation as a comedian is a result of someone at Netflix making a clerical error.
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