OK Members, now for your extended cut! Just to bring a smile on everyone's faces- Extending from the prior thread's citation of Microsoft and Google over in one of the Access forums and considering that so many of us naturally use one of or both extensively even though we have certain misgivings about it, but do so because of the significant advantages in return. We would feed anything for enough present benefit knowing that one day it would be the cause of our death. Seems like too far of a speculation?
I never thought that AI would get to the point it has. It certainly can now easily replace most if not all programmers entirely. Same goes for any intellectual endeavor. Giants, such as Microsoft and Google, will be run by a very limited, perhaps only one if even that, number of individuals for the non-labor aspect, and for labor, why not all robotics? That might at first seem far-fetched, but when you look at how robotics progressively have replaced many humans on vastly different production lines, it is plain and simple that this is a fact proven by history that will will continue. With a central focus of profit, and i am a capitalist (questioning my life these days), this must happen. Frankly, for those companies that can afford it, we are already there.
I noted a YouTube recently that goes fairly along with my thoughts in that AI necessarily is going to be the destruction of this world (at very least as we know it), and not in a good way for humans https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpRM25pUD8w with Mr. Altman saying something to the effect of "this could go one of two ways - very good or very bad". I'm afraid i don't agree. I believe it will look like things are going very good at first, but just like an Adolf Hitler, Kim Jong Un, or a Saddam Hussein arising out of the woodwork, such will happen with AI, the eventual bump in the road is unavoidable, whether by a flaw (no, no one has to correct a bug anymore!), a logical decision by AI or a greedy or corrupt human.
This is interesting; we are so much closer to destruction than i thought we were just a year or so ago. Can't do anything about it. Maybe Mr. Kaczynski was right; i can just picture him turning over in his grave saying "I told you so". And we are not talking far off from now, like those idiot predictions of when the sun will become a supergiant and swallow the Earth. At this rate it could easily happen in my lifetime. Taking into consideration that i am almost 70 and have had one heart attack, we are not talking that far into the future at all-
I believe that discussion of religion is out of line in these boards, so i will end for now with just stating that anyone who believes that which is commonly called "God" does not exist best start praying that He does, for i honestly see no other possible way humanity can survive our own greed and stupidity given the temptations of AI (that wasn't religion, it was survival and what alternative do we have?). Heck, seeing the incredibly gorgeous females it can create (most of which NEED breast reduction surgery) augmented by their ability to appear kind, compassionate, reassuring and mentally comforting (the physical part has seemed to wane in me, but consider that too if you like), and if you could inject that into a mind, i would be sorely tempted to leave this reality for that myself, knowing full well it, for some reason, is wrong. Yes Mr. Rost, i agree - many of these aspects were touched upon in Star Trek (TOS), starting with the original B&W pilot "The Cage"- “he has his fantasy, and you have your reality, may you both be happy in them.”
Perhaps in like the old movie "War Games", extinction really is inevitable. I guess more likely than not.
I easily remember when i bought my Commodore 64. Then i had to buy a floppy drive or else anything i did would just vaporize. Then a printer. Got that home and found out i had to go back and buy a printer interface. Was writing in BASIC at the time.
Then was a "Tru-Blue" - the first IBM designed for the common person at 4.7 MHz. Bought a new chip that brought that wayyyyy up to 6 MHz. Buying an expansion card and i think 72 chips (8 for each bank and one more for each bank to serve as the controller), i upgraded that to 1 MB of memory. At the time i could afford it so i was buying a new computer every 6 months or so to keep up with increased speed and power. Those were the days when if something went wrong your hardware supplier blamed your software and your software techs blamed your hardware, remember?
Never so much as imagined we would get this far - something that has been so "helpful" be actually threatening to be the end. And if you wish to disagree, that is fine, but tell me - Do you do so on fact, or do you do so on hope?
Interesting jump from GoDaddy and MySQL, isn't it? Why is it that now i have the Doors song "The End" (also from Apocalypse Now) playing in my head? I think perhaps i am nuts. At least i hope so-
Adam Schwanz
@Reply 5 months ago
I can tell you from personal experience, "It certainly can now easily replace most if not all programmers entirely" is far, FAR from correct. I used ChatGPT to build a website probably a year or so ago, and I've never been more frustrated in my life, telling it what it's doing wrong and almost arguing with it, and then 25 back and forths later, it spits out the same response it started with. It also has a big problem of just fluffing code with random stuff, like throwing random CSS into the page that you didn't ask for. I finally gave up that idea that AI could help crutch my limited knowledge along, and went and learned the languages myself, and now I can see just how many flaws it was giving me. Don't get me wrong, it's great to ask a question or two to, and maybe you get the answer, or an idea of where you should go look yourself, but it cannot handle complex tasks by itself yet. We will probably get there in another 5-10 years, but I think you're always going to need developers to oversee it.
Adam Schwanz
@Reply 5 months ago
It is great for things like take this text and make it a CSV or doing any kind of tedious actions like that though ;).
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. You've brought up some interesting and deep points. While I understand your concerns about the potential risks of AI, I take a more optimistic view of the future. Looking back at history, every groundbreaking invention, whether it was the printing press, the steam engine, or even the atomic bomb, brought both progress and challenges. Despite this, I believe science and innovation ultimately have the power to improve humanity. I like to imagine a future similar to Star Trek, where humans outgrow greed and focus on exploration and unity.
It's true that AI will bring significant changes, and like any tool, its impact depends on how it is used. I acknowledge there are risks, but I also see a lot of potential for good. History shows that humanity is resilient and adaptable.
Regarding your reference to religion and politics, I have a rule here to avoid those discussions. While I allow some off-topic conversations, those subjects tend to alienate people, and this is a space for learning. If you want to discuss politics or religion, other platforms like Facebook or Twitter are more suited for that.
On a lighter note, I can relate to your memories of early computers. I started with a TRS-80 and had to use a cassette drive to save my work. Later, when I got a printer, I didn't realize I needed a data cable and had to make another trip to the store. Those were exciting times, and I share your appreciation for how far we've come.
Thank you again for sharing your perspective. It's always interesting to reflect on where we've been and where we might be headed.
Yeah, I mostly agree with Adam. It's not great for anything complex just yet. It's good if you, as a programmer, know what you want to do and can say, "Hey, write me a Python script that will do such and such," and that's just a simple task. I know languages like VBA like the back of my hand, but other things like PowerShell or Python, I don't know the syntax exactly yet, so it's easier to just have GPT write me a quick script. As far as replacing programmers now, that's still many years away from that. I'm not saying it's never going to happen, but it's still far off.
Matt Hall
@Reply 5 months ago
I have never heard anyone address the endgame for the dire AI predictions. If we replace all workers, who will buy the goods? The value of money is the labor required to earn it. Our labor is what we trade. When customers lose income, businesses lose customers. It seems to me like there will be a point of diminishing return that will naturally regulate the level of automation in our businesses.
Also not addressed are the human qualities that drive innovation like creativity, opinion, contrarian attitudes, and even mistakes. Some of the articles on AI model collapse are pretty interesting and address this. In the end, if you are willing to adapt, I think there is plenty of room for optimism.
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