"...those little hints of intuition that peek at what's just around the bend, both good and bad, about the digital space, are worth listening to." They are, indeed! Well said.
I really enjoyed this podcast discussion - I've been having a lot of the same thoughts... And Tsh, we're kindred spirits. No Alexa, no cable, no smart TV, no tablets in this house... Actually we still use DVDs and CDs! We're THOSE people! So I get that I'm a little outside of things and that maybe my absolute dread (I'm all for throwing holy water on AI) may be a little extreme. At the same time I feel pretty convinced that the 'benefits' are minimal at best and may in fact be downsides in disguise - as you say, taking away important (if inconvenient) opportunities to just be a human being.
I had an AI specialist on my podcast recently to 'defend' AI (though he himself is very tech-lite in his personal life) and it's funny because he actually brought up how he doesn't have to hire an attorney anymore for small legal matters (sorry Seth!). Anyway, it was an interesting conversation and I don't think he really convinced me - though again, some fair points.
I often think of this MLK quote from his profound speech "The Three Evils of Society" -
"The second aspect of our afflicted society is extreme materialism, an Asian writer has portrayed our dilemma in candid terms, he says, “you call your thousand material devices labor saving machinery, yet you are forever busy. With the multiplying of your machinery you grow increasingly fatigued, anxious, nervous, dissatisfied. Whatever you have you want more and where ever you are you want to go somewhere else. Your devices are neither time saving nor soul saving machinery. They are so many sharp spurs which urge you on to invent more machinery and to do more business”. This tells us something about our civilization that cannot be cast aside as a prejudiced charge by an eastern thinker who is jealous of Western prosperity. We cannot escape the indictment. This does not mean that we must turn back the clock of scientific progress. No one can overlook the wonders that science has wrought for our lives. The automobile will not abdicate in favor of the horse and buggy or the train in favor of the stage coach or the tractor in favor of the hand plow or the scientific method in favor of ignorance and superstition. But our moral lag must be redeemed; when scientific power outruns moral power, we end up with guided missiles and misguided men."
"...those little hints of intuition that peek at what's just around the bend, both good and bad, about the digital space, are worth listening to." They are, indeed! Well said.
I really enjoyed this podcast discussion - I've been having a lot of the same thoughts... And Tsh, we're kindred spirits. No Alexa, no cable, no smart TV, no tablets in this house... Actually we still use DVDs and CDs! We're THOSE people! So I get that I'm a little outside of things and that maybe my absolute dread (I'm all for throwing holy water on AI) may be a little extreme. At the same time I feel pretty convinced that the 'benefits' are minimal at best and may in fact be downsides in disguise - as you say, taking away important (if inconvenient) opportunities to just be a human being.
I had an AI specialist on my podcast recently to 'defend' AI (though he himself is very tech-lite in his personal life) and it's funny because he actually brought up how he doesn't have to hire an attorney anymore for small legal matters (sorry Seth!). Anyway, it was an interesting conversation and I don't think he really convinced me - though again, some fair points.
I often think of this MLK quote from his profound speech "The Three Evils of Society" -
"The second aspect of our afflicted society is extreme materialism, an Asian writer has portrayed our dilemma in candid terms, he says, “you call your thousand material devices labor saving machinery, yet you are forever busy. With the multiplying of your machinery you grow increasingly fatigued, anxious, nervous, dissatisfied. Whatever you have you want more and where ever you are you want to go somewhere else. Your devices are neither time saving nor soul saving machinery. They are so many sharp spurs which urge you on to invent more machinery and to do more business”. This tells us something about our civilization that cannot be cast aside as a prejudiced charge by an eastern thinker who is jealous of Western prosperity. We cannot escape the indictment. This does not mean that we must turn back the clock of scientific progress. No one can overlook the wonders that science has wrought for our lives. The automobile will not abdicate in favor of the horse and buggy or the train in favor of the stage coach or the tractor in favor of the hand plow or the scientific method in favor of ignorance and superstition. But our moral lag must be redeemed; when scientific power outruns moral power, we end up with guided missiles and misguided men."
Goodness, that is a WORD from King! Thank you for sharing that.
...And yes, even when I hear from well-intentioned AI apologists, I've yet to be convinced.
THAT QUOTE 😆
Isn't it great?