Contrarian view to AI
An illuminating view from the greatest thinker, historian Yuval Harari and Mustafa Suleyman Entrepreneur and researcher of our times. Link to the full debate in the comment section
Types of task: AI is currently dominates the creation of new media (generative AI), reading content from images, transcribing audio/video. The panel talks about moving to more autonomous evolutions where new product development, organisations would be natively complete in AI.
Turning test: Originally devised in 1950 by Alan Turing it aimed to test the horizon limits of machine's ability to exhibit intelligent behavior equivalent to that of a human. We are so close to the old Turing test that Mustafa has devised a new Turing test which would be good for next few decades. The new test aims at AI ability to do a disjointed set of individual tasks to accomplish something meaningful. You could ask AI to “Go make $1 million on a retail web platform in a few months with just a $100,000 investment.”
Value creation: The future of humanity will prioritize meaningful value creation over the necessity of jobs for mere survival. Imagine a scenario where AI is tasked with generating and innovating new product lines, allowing humans to concentrate on crafting services and experiences that we truly cherish.
Biggest threats: Technology is inherently neutral how we use technology is not. Humans are the only species that constantly put their survival at risk. We need to think ahead and put controls around the involvement of AI. Consider the complete elimination of AI's capability to disseminate information on creating explosives and new viruses for household purposes.
Unequal Distribution: Yuval talks about how Hitler Rose to power in Germany because of three years of 25% unemployment. in our times, a rapid transition to AI workforce could have similar effects where entire jobs for a sector are positioned in single country effectively putting the entire population without a job in a specific sector. The domino effect on democracy and the geopolitical landscape is unfathomable.
Containment challenge: We already see our social media platforms littered with misinformation and fake news, making it challenging to discern facts. Consider the implications of AI models 10x more capable than the current version. It's crucial for governments, the public, and organizations to get involved and shape the AI governance models, carefully shaping the limits, and type of information exposed to users.
Link to full debate: https://youtu.be/7JkPWHr7sTY?si=YFOLyraujGrn5oiT
How do you think we can get involved and shape the future of AI ?