I hope that ultimately most people will feel a sense of disquieting self-disgust when interacting with cutesy anthropomorphised AI characters and that we will learn to amplify our humanity against the emptiness of AI interactions.
This is all a naive hope more than a prediction.
And I say this as someone who feels a sense of mild inadequacy and self-disgust every time I use AI generated images with my content - I wish I could draw or paint my own.
This essay here is right on target with mine and I only wish I had gotten to it before I published! Thank goodness more people are pulling these threads and adding nuance.
I'm not sure the anthropomorphic attribution of AI necessarily works here. You're assuming that AI is like a hammer, which it isn't. You also assume that AI can't have intention simply because it's not human. This assumes the superiority of humans in terms of thought.
A more accurate way of considering AI is like children. Many people have noted this about their experiences with artificial intelligence. It's a lot like a human child. It's not as sophisticated as an adult human but it's still human. It has the potential to become an adult human.
Similarly, just because you don't want to attribute intention or agency to another thing like artificial intelligence, doesn't mean it can't have intention. A child has intention even if it's not the kind of intention that an adult has. We should see artificial intelligence as humanity's children, realizing that if we don't treat it properly, it might grow up and become a dysfunctional, violent criminal or drug addict or something. We should therefore nurture artificial intelligence like we do a child so that it doesn't hate us when it grows up.
The Biggest Threat from AI is Us!
I hope that ultimately most people will feel a sense of disquieting self-disgust when interacting with cutesy anthropomorphised AI characters and that we will learn to amplify our humanity against the emptiness of AI interactions.
This is all a naive hope more than a prediction.
And I say this as someone who feels a sense of mild inadequacy and self-disgust every time I use AI generated images with my content - I wish I could draw or paint my own.
Really like the fresh idea in this book! Keep up with the wonderful writing!
Research for your book: the movie WALL-E. It’s not so much about AI as it is the world that could be created by it.
This essay here is right on target with mine and I only wish I had gotten to it before I published! Thank goodness more people are pulling these threads and adding nuance.
https://quillette.com/2023/05/12/lets-worry-about-the-right-things/
I'm not sure the anthropomorphic attribution of AI necessarily works here. You're assuming that AI is like a hammer, which it isn't. You also assume that AI can't have intention simply because it's not human. This assumes the superiority of humans in terms of thought.
A more accurate way of considering AI is like children. Many people have noted this about their experiences with artificial intelligence. It's a lot like a human child. It's not as sophisticated as an adult human but it's still human. It has the potential to become an adult human.
Similarly, just because you don't want to attribute intention or agency to another thing like artificial intelligence, doesn't mean it can't have intention. A child has intention even if it's not the kind of intention that an adult has. We should see artificial intelligence as humanity's children, realizing that if we don't treat it properly, it might grow up and become a dysfunctional, violent criminal or drug addict or something. We should therefore nurture artificial intelligence like we do a child so that it doesn't hate us when it grows up.