Love it. There's an awful lot to think about RE human and AI interactions. Sci fi is such a great vehicle for us to have these important discussions!
Brian, you might want to consider touching base with Michael Woudenberg. He does an audio recording of his posts, and that might work even better than the video interface. I can keep audio only files playing in the background while I turn my phone's display off and go for a walk. Regardless, this is fun! Please keep it up.
Thank you! Adding the audio recording to a regular post and not doing it in the podcast section may just be the way to go. It seems like it would be easier for the reader/listener to navigate, and ultimately I want to make it as easy as possible for subscribers to access and consume. I'm glad you're enjoying it, it's fun playing around with different creative outlets.
When you said, "Maybe I should let AI in..." I immediately thought of the movie, Let the Right One In. 🤣 Obviously, that's an entirely different genre, but maybe it applies?
Honestly, I'm really enjoying exploring the new tools and capabilities that AI is bringing to the table. But, I think it's healthy to take a careful look at how we handle these new tools. We need to keep the human element in mind - which just means, we need to understand the human impact of adopting AI tools in nearly every industry. We need to be asking how we use these new capabilities without putting humans out of work. Our work gives us purpose and if it is taken away... It's a scary thought. In our society, I can see the widespread adoption of AI tools replacing large numbers of human jobs. Can we pivot? Sure. But can we do it fast enough that those who are displaced can find work in new industries? Will they be able to support their families? Let's go to the extreme: If AI/robots take all the jobs, working for free, and humans are unable to find jobs to make money to buy food (and all other resources), are the megacorporations that own the AI going to start giving their products and services away for free because they realize the human race no longer has a way to earn money? You could take the Star Trek approach and say, sure, there won't be a need for money any more and everyone will just live a delightful life as academics, artists, etc. Or, you can imagine that the powerful will attempt to retain their power by any means necessary, and it will bring about the end of our civilization as we know it.
Also, I just want to say that Alan Dean Foster is one of my favorite authors. I haven't read To The Vanishing Point yet, so I'll have to add that one to my list.
Thank you for sharing your podcast with us! As always, it was a joy to listen to.
I think that not enough people who are working to develop AI, are considering the effect that those megacorporations will have on the rest of society. Like you asked, are they going to start giving away their goods and services? It would be the right thing to do if they did, but I think once they no longer have the human labor cost to worry about, and the profits get bigger and bigger, corporate greed may just take over. On the other hand if there aren't any more jobs for humans, how are they going to make those profits if nobody can afford to buy their products? If they continue to try to make a profit I think that could be a catalyst for sending society into a dystopian state.
We must consider ourselves first if we want to be around for another thousand years as a species. AI and all of the possibilities it brings are amazing and it is advancing at a rapid rate. And yes, some of the AI tools that we have now are very exciting but we absolutely need to more than anything pay attention to what we are doing.
Thank you for listening, I'm glad your enjoying it!
Love it. There's an awful lot to think about RE human and AI interactions. Sci fi is such a great vehicle for us to have these important discussions!
Brian, you might want to consider touching base with Michael Woudenberg. He does an audio recording of his posts, and that might work even better than the video interface. I can keep audio only files playing in the background while I turn my phone's display off and go for a walk. Regardless, this is fun! Please keep it up.
Thank you! Adding the audio recording to a regular post and not doing it in the podcast section may just be the way to go. It seems like it would be easier for the reader/listener to navigate, and ultimately I want to make it as easy as possible for subscribers to access and consume. I'm glad you're enjoying it, it's fun playing around with different creative outlets.
It's basically the way social media should be. We get to present our ideas, talk about them, and generally have a good time.
When you said, "Maybe I should let AI in..." I immediately thought of the movie, Let the Right One In. 🤣 Obviously, that's an entirely different genre, but maybe it applies?
Honestly, I'm really enjoying exploring the new tools and capabilities that AI is bringing to the table. But, I think it's healthy to take a careful look at how we handle these new tools. We need to keep the human element in mind - which just means, we need to understand the human impact of adopting AI tools in nearly every industry. We need to be asking how we use these new capabilities without putting humans out of work. Our work gives us purpose and if it is taken away... It's a scary thought. In our society, I can see the widespread adoption of AI tools replacing large numbers of human jobs. Can we pivot? Sure. But can we do it fast enough that those who are displaced can find work in new industries? Will they be able to support their families? Let's go to the extreme: If AI/robots take all the jobs, working for free, and humans are unable to find jobs to make money to buy food (and all other resources), are the megacorporations that own the AI going to start giving their products and services away for free because they realize the human race no longer has a way to earn money? You could take the Star Trek approach and say, sure, there won't be a need for money any more and everyone will just live a delightful life as academics, artists, etc. Or, you can imagine that the powerful will attempt to retain their power by any means necessary, and it will bring about the end of our civilization as we know it.
Also, I just want to say that Alan Dean Foster is one of my favorite authors. I haven't read To The Vanishing Point yet, so I'll have to add that one to my list.
Thank you for sharing your podcast with us! As always, it was a joy to listen to.
I think that not enough people who are working to develop AI, are considering the effect that those megacorporations will have on the rest of society. Like you asked, are they going to start giving away their goods and services? It would be the right thing to do if they did, but I think once they no longer have the human labor cost to worry about, and the profits get bigger and bigger, corporate greed may just take over. On the other hand if there aren't any more jobs for humans, how are they going to make those profits if nobody can afford to buy their products? If they continue to try to make a profit I think that could be a catalyst for sending society into a dystopian state.
We must consider ourselves first if we want to be around for another thousand years as a species. AI and all of the possibilities it brings are amazing and it is advancing at a rapid rate. And yes, some of the AI tools that we have now are very exciting but we absolutely need to more than anything pay attention to what we are doing.
Thank you for listening, I'm glad your enjoying it!
Very well said! And so true.