←back to thread

170 points bookofjoe | 2 comments | | HN request time: 0s | source
Show context
vannevar ◴[] No.43644575[source]
I don't think Asimov envisioned a world where AI would be controlled by a clique of ultra-wealthy oligarchs.
replies(7): >>43644724 #>>43644834 #>>43644840 #>>43644842 #>>43644959 #>>43646696 #>>43647566 #
klabb3 ◴[] No.43646696[source]
Yes. When I hear dreams of the past it makes me nostalgic because they all come from a pre-exploited era of tech with the underlying subtext that humanity is unified in wanting tech to be used for good purposes. The reality is tech is a vessel for traditional enrichment, such as resource wars of say oil or land have been. Both domestically and geopolitically, tech is seen that way today. In such a world, tech advancements offers opportunities for the powerful to grab more, changing the relative distribution of power in their favor. If tech shows us anything is that this relative notion of wealth or social posturing is the central axis around which humans align themselves, wherever on the socioeconomic ladder you are and independent of absolute and basic needs.
replies(2): >>43646975 #>>43648577 #
1. southernplaces7 ◴[] No.43646975[source]
>because they all come from a pre-exploited era of tech with the underlying subtext that humanity is unified in wanting tech to be used for good purposes.

That's the problem with being nostalgic for something you possibly didn't even live. You don't remember all the other ugly complexities that don't fit your idealized vision.

Nothing about the world of the sci fi golden age was less exploitative or prone to human misery than it is today. If anything, it was far worse than what we have today in many ways (excluding perhaps the reach of the surveillance state)

Some of the US government's worst secret experiments against the population come from that same time and the naive faith by the population in their "leaders" made propaganda by centralized big media outlets all the more pervasively powerful. At the same time, social miseries were common and so too were many strictures against many more people on economic and social opportunities. As for technology being used for good purposes, bear in mind that among many other nasty things being done, the 50's and 60s were a time in which several governments flagrantly tested thousands of nukes out in the open, in the skies, above-ground and in the oceans with hardly a care in the world or any serious public scrutiny. If you're looking at that gone world with rose-tinted glasses, I'd suggest instead using rose tinted welding goggles..

The world of today may be full of flaws, but the avenues for breaking away from controlled narratives and controlled economic rules are probably broader than they've ever been.

replies(1): >>43658564 #
2. klabb3 ◴[] No.43658564[source]
You are entirely right to call me out on that. But I would like to say that sci fi that applied to computers, AI, automation, were just dreams of a different world, because those technologies hadn’t been exploited yet. Even many of the dystopias feel innocent with today’s knowledge of where it went. Such as 1984, imo.