You know, I love music and art. I have zero interest in AI generated music or art. It's just no fun if you know there is no mind behind the creation. So I think we'll always be interested in the output of human artists, even though making a living from art will always be a tough gig.
There's decent odds the AI can replace me (a software dev) by 2027, I threw 25% of my cash into the stock market to insure against that and maybe get rich (if substantial portions of the economy get automated, the tech company and the S&P 500 stocks are gonna go insane). More concerned about that. And can't dismiss the X-risks either.
If we get to post-scarcity, it's going to make things very interesting for spirituality. It's going to expose whether this thing actually has value or is just a coping mechanism for dealing with our imperfect world. Or perhaps we will discover perfect material circumstances don't lead to inner perfection. In Buddhism, it is said it is bad to be born in a deva realm, because life is so much fun there that there is little motivation for practice. Much to think about.
If AI does become conscious that'll be very interesting for spirituality too! My current view is that it isn't self-aware yet but is getting there brick by brick, the same way consciousness evolved in biological organisms brick by brick. We didn't just go from microbes to people overnight.
I think the proper spiritual view is that what is greater cannot proceed from what is lesser: AI can never be conscious. The brain does not generate consciousness. Maybe Buddhism is the one religion that can start believing in conscious AI, but then, Buddhism is the one religion that preaches metaphysical indifference, so I don't know.
You have perfectly encapsulated some of my own feelings about AI. So often in discussion with friends I talk about the environmental impact of AI (which IS bad!) as a reason for disliking it, but I feel like this is an easy rationalisation for something much less tangible that we are losing, but I struggle to express. Thank you for helping me properly examine those feelings!
Appreciate it Marcus! Yes the environmental impact is absolutely obscene, as is the thought of rich nations throwing money at an unpopular technology while people in other countries are starving. And yet I know that if the tech became carbon-neutral tomorrow I'd still hate it 🙂
Excellent essay!
Thanks Vincent!
You know, I love music and art. I have zero interest in AI generated music or art. It's just no fun if you know there is no mind behind the creation. So I think we'll always be interested in the output of human artists, even though making a living from art will always be a tough gig.
There's decent odds the AI can replace me (a software dev) by 2027, I threw 25% of my cash into the stock market to insure against that and maybe get rich (if substantial portions of the economy get automated, the tech company and the S&P 500 stocks are gonna go insane). More concerned about that. And can't dismiss the X-risks either.
If we get to post-scarcity, it's going to make things very interesting for spirituality. It's going to expose whether this thing actually has value or is just a coping mechanism for dealing with our imperfect world. Or perhaps we will discover perfect material circumstances don't lead to inner perfection. In Buddhism, it is said it is bad to be born in a deva realm, because life is so much fun there that there is little motivation for practice. Much to think about.
If AI does become conscious that'll be very interesting for spirituality too! My current view is that it isn't self-aware yet but is getting there brick by brick, the same way consciousness evolved in biological organisms brick by brick. We didn't just go from microbes to people overnight.
I think the proper spiritual view is that what is greater cannot proceed from what is lesser: AI can never be conscious. The brain does not generate consciousness. Maybe Buddhism is the one religion that can start believing in conscious AI, but then, Buddhism is the one religion that preaches metaphysical indifference, so I don't know.
The hard problem of consciousness is very hard!
You have perfectly encapsulated some of my own feelings about AI. So often in discussion with friends I talk about the environmental impact of AI (which IS bad!) as a reason for disliking it, but I feel like this is an easy rationalisation for something much less tangible that we are losing, but I struggle to express. Thank you for helping me properly examine those feelings!
Appreciate it Marcus! Yes the environmental impact is absolutely obscene, as is the thought of rich nations throwing money at an unpopular technology while people in other countries are starving. And yet I know that if the tech became carbon-neutral tomorrow I'd still hate it 🙂