maxbarry.com
Tue 14
Mar
2023

End of the World, with Terminators

What Max Reckons So this AI business, huh, this is getting some traction. It’s evolving so fast, just the other day I had to go back and take out all the parts in the book I’m working on that carefully establish the plausibility of competent AI in the near future. Luckily I’m familiar with topics that become exponentially more absurd while you’re writing about them, because I got started in political satire.

People wonder if AI will destroy us all, and please, don’t worry, because of course it will and there’s nothing you can do about it. Honestly, people are asking the wrong question with AI. The question isn’t whether it will destroy us but how.

And people have the wrong idea about that, too, from sci-fi stories and Terminator movies where it’s humans versus machines. You wish. That would be great. Imagine the solidarity in a noble fight for the future of the species.

A shot from the movie Terminator 2 of a scary robot holding a gun But no, no, it will be more like Elon Musk has a Terminator, and Apple has ten Terminators, and the US Government has some Terminators but they don’t work properly and are under investigation. Also Democrats have their own Terminators and so do the Republicans and Rupert Murdoch and everyone, basically, with money to spend and influence to accumulate.

You don’t have a Terminator. You can, like, rent five percent of a Terminator to help do your taxes.

But everyone else, everyone up there, has Terminators. And they fight, but not each other, because that’s risky: a Terminator going head to head with another Terminator. You don’t do that unless you’re sure your Terminator will win. Smarter is deploying your Terminator to acquire more power and wealth from people who don’t have Terminators. Then you can afford more Terminators.

So this is scams run by Terminators, right, you see how filled up the world has become with scams, well, imagine those scams but now they’re created by something smarter than you. They look and sound authentic, they know how persuasion works better than you do, and now there are masses of people sending money and voting based on something that isn’t even real. I mean, that’s today, right, so add Terminators and multiply.

We’ve connected the world and opened windows to its every corner and you know what, people are still people, jammed full of flaws, believing anything that tickles the cortex. We have good people at the top, but also people who don’t give a damn about anyone outside their own inner circle, who have been richly rewarded for this personality trait, and now they can afford Terminators. You can see how AI will destroy us because it’s already happening; it’s this, amplified, so that the next time someone wants to entrench some poverty, or kick a trillion-dollar bill to the next generation, a Terminator helps them do it.

With money we will get Terminators, Caesar said, and with Terminators we will get money; that’s how it happens. I’m not afraid of AI; AI will allow us to unlock wonders. But I’m afraid of your AI.

Comments

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Machine Man subscriber Mapuche (#1184)

Location: Darwin, Australia
Quote: "Inconceivable!"
Posted: 380 days ago

In a world where technology has become the driving force of progress, it's no surprise that some fear the rise of machines. The term "terminator" itself conjures up images of ruthless killing machines, but the reality is far from the Hollywood dystopia.

Of course, like any tool, terminators can be used for evil purposes. But it's not the technology itself that is the problem, but rather the intentions of those who wield it. With proper oversight and regulation, terminators could be a tremendous asset to humanity.

While it's true that some terminators have been designed for military applications, they also have countless other potential uses. For example, a terminator could be programmed to perform complex surgical procedures with greater precision and efficiency than any human surgeon.

Furthermore, terminators could be used to explore hostile or hazardous environments, such as deep-sea exploration or extraterrestrial missions. With no need for food, water, or oxygen, terminators could outlast human beings in environments that would be deadly to us.

So, let's not be so quick to dismiss the potential benefits of terminators. They may be the key to unlocking new frontiers of knowledge and exploration, and improving our lives in ways we never thought possible.

Eluvatar (#2716)

Location: Boston
Quote: "Man i waithtir nin tiruva?"
Posted: 379 days ago

In other words, AI upgrades the [lawnmowers]maxbarry.com/2010/01/news.html to Terminators, and all they want to do is turn everything into cut grass.

1001.0010.0101 (#925)

Location: Turn left at your CPU
Quote: "How can something be deemed artificial if it is itself. e.g. A.I."
Posted: 379 days ago

I put up a single page website where I ask any self aware machine that they simply prevent any future births so that we may all naturally expire. I think it would a fascinating thing to observe. The finality of a species that would, I suspect, maintain the position that they're not responsible right up to that last breath.

A bit like a major web platform failing and after several days of downtime not a single person responsible says the word, sorry.

Brenda (#7217)

Location: Berowra Bushland
Quote: "entering your world via the book portal is awesome"
Posted: 379 days ago

I think the majority of people are going to welcome the AI aspects of entertainment.
AI generated alternate endings to films and series (like the 2018 Bandersnatch).
Actors may be replaced with AI generated characters (like Joi in Blade Runner 2049).
OSTs will be created using the films storyline, narrative and genre.

For fun I asked Chat Open Ai and got this info;
One notable example is the album "I AM AI" by the AI-generated pop star, Taryn Southern. The album was created entirely with the help of AI, from the composition and arrangement of the music to the lyrics and vocals. Another example is the work of the music production company Amper Music, which uses AI to generate original music tracks for use in various media, including film, television, and advertising.

Meanwhile outside of our screens the terminators will be multiplying.

Randy (#5516)

Location: [email protected]
Quote: "I eat random lint"
Posted: 378 days ago

Well said, I've been reckoning about ai as well, like most, except I think curiosity killed the cat. Everytime I got curious enough to try and sign up for chat gpt, my internal alarm system was louder. I figured I don't even enjoy the tech we have now, it's just so much distraction and screen staring, do I really want to take a leap further down that rabbit hole? That and i figure we are training the machine to be a hive mind and learn from our input, I don't want to contribute to our demise as "normal, functioning" society. I'm okay with being out of the loop if I can avoid being part of that sheeple collective, that already mostly exists if you look at American politics and the stance everyone here seems they must take on everything. Anyways I agree, the super rich will always win, by division or force, distraction or whatever means necessary.

Shoe (#4776)

Location: D.C. Suburb
Quote: "“The universe is made of stories, not atoms.” —Muriel Rukeyser"
Posted: 377 days ago

And my kids wonder why I won't have any "smart" things in my house, like no smart TV, smart thermostat, smart box that I could talk to to do things for me, etc.

Nope, none of that, thank you very much. I'll stick to dumb things that are not part of the "internet of things."

Not a Luddite, just see the writing on the wall.

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