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AI as Normal Technology

(knightcolumbia.org)
237 points randomwalker | 4 comments | 15 Apr 25 20:05 UTC | HN request time: 0.703s | source
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roxolotl ◴[17 Apr 25 12:20 UTC] No.43715735[source]▶
This is a rare piece on AI which takes a coherent middle of the road viewpoint. Saying both that AI is “normal” and that it will be transformative is a radical statement in today’s discussions about AI.

Looking back on other normal but transformative technologies: steam power, electricity, nuclear physics, the transistor, etc you do actually see similarly stratified opinions. Most of those are surrounded by an initial burst of enthusiasm and pessimism and follow a hype cycle.

The reason this piece is compelling is because during the initial hype phase taking a nuanced middle of the road viewpoint is difficult. Maybe AI really is some “next step” but it is significantly more likely that belief is propped up by science fiction and it’s important to keep expectations inline historically.

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datadrivenangel ◴[17 Apr 25 13:35 UTC] No.43716597[source]▶
AI will transform everything, and after that life will continue as normal, so except for the details, it's not a big deal.

Going to be a simultaneously wild and boring ride.

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owebmaster ◴[17 Apr 25 13:48 UTC] No.43716807[source]▶
> AI will transform everything, and after that life will continue as normal

100%. It just happened with the advent of the internet and then smartphones.

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1. bluefirebrand ◴[17 Apr 25 13:56 UTC] No.43716926[source]▶
I think the problem I have is that it still doesn't feel like society has really caught up to the impact that The Internet and Smartphones have had, and we keep getting disrupted faster and faster it seems

I know that there have always been disruptive technologies, but I the the rate of "technologies that are disrupting everything" as opposed to "technologies that are disrupting just one thing" has been kind of crazy

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2. owebmaster ◴[17 Apr 25 14:09 UTC] No.43717113[source]▶
> I think the problem I have is that it still doesn't feel like society has really caught up to the impact that The Internet and Smartphones have had, and we keep getting disrupted faster and faster it seems

Indeed. For the past 30 years, every 10 years people were raised in a completely different environment. TV -> Internet -> Smartphones and now the next 10 years of people growing up influenced by LLMs.

3. datadrivenangel ◴[17 Apr 25 14:42 UTC] No.43717621[source]▶
We've made the world run on machines, and gotten better about machine intelligence and distributing software, so the speed at which the world's machines can operate smarter has increased significantly.

An innovation by one person can be distributed to the majority of people on the planet within minutes. It's amazing and all of our social and political norms aren't built to handle this.

4. cryptopian ◴[17 Apr 25 17:21 UTC] No.43719764[source]▶
It's said that the most disruptive technologies are the ones that change the way we communicate.

I'll admit, a lot of the reason for me being reticent of jumping into the AI game is an increasing amount of distrust towards the current state of the tech industry. Social media giants rose up, made everybody excited about the opportunities to communicate with anyone (which are perfectly valid, I was on board too) and years later, we come to realise the addictions, the fractured information landscape and the surveillance. Now a bunch of companies from the same part of the world come along asking for billions to change the world again and I'm just exhausted by the whole conversation.