The assertion that AI can feel emotion is ludicrous. All AI can do is imitate the human behaviors that it has been programmed with. We all know people who can fake displays of emotion--actors do it for a living, narcissists do it for fun, and lots of us have done it sometimes for various reasons. Displaying emotion doesn't mean AI is actually feeling it.
In regard to the sudden omnipresence of AI, my recent work has been free-lance academic editing, and I have taught college writing (10 years ago). In the past seven to eight months, I have had only two grad students contact me for help with a dissertation or article, job application materials, etc. Previous years I had at least 5 or 6 dissertations a year and maybe 15 requests for help with smaller projects. Apparently AI is a lot cheaper than professional editing.
But what worries me about this is not just that I've been replaced by a robot, but that people who use AI, especially but not only students, will not be learning how to write, how to grapple with expressing their ideas in ways others can understand, how to think well. You're right that thinking does not define us as humans, but it is how we make sense of the world, how we interpret sensory data, how we understand our relationship to the world and its relationship to us. I shudder to think about what kind of leaders the college students of today will be when it is their turn, if they don't know how to put their thoughts into words without using AI. This is transhumanism, straight up, no need for virtual reality goggles or a brain chip. It does not bode well for the future.
Hi Betsy - It's an exceedingly complex issue, and I guess I'm in for another series with this one. "Death by Convenience" is one topic title—and that includes exactly what you're talking about—using Chatbots to do your thinking, your research, and your writing for you. Never mind garnering a sense of accomplishment. it truly is the death of the mind and the ability to think and communicate clearly and effectively at any level for those who embrace it.
My prediction is that in the end AI and those who are under the spell of AI will be the only beings (non beings) on social media. Those who care to experience the “real world” will find a new way (substacks?) to get around the infiltration, censorship and counter culture culture. If those who prefer to go to AI for their answers we don’t want them bothering us anyways.
Ai is clever, can perhaps save us a lot of drudgery, and might even want to do away with us at some singular point in the not-so-distant future. But it will never match (some of) us for emotional intelligence and our ability to empathise with others. I'm with Clif High on this ("artificial intelligence is retarded"). Have no fear.
The assertion that AI can feel emotion is ludicrous. All AI can do is imitate the human behaviors that it has been programmed with. We all know people who can fake displays of emotion--actors do it for a living, narcissists do it for fun, and lots of us have done it sometimes for various reasons. Displaying emotion doesn't mean AI is actually feeling it.
In regard to the sudden omnipresence of AI, my recent work has been free-lance academic editing, and I have taught college writing (10 years ago). In the past seven to eight months, I have had only two grad students contact me for help with a dissertation or article, job application materials, etc. Previous years I had at least 5 or 6 dissertations a year and maybe 15 requests for help with smaller projects. Apparently AI is a lot cheaper than professional editing.
But what worries me about this is not just that I've been replaced by a robot, but that people who use AI, especially but not only students, will not be learning how to write, how to grapple with expressing their ideas in ways others can understand, how to think well. You're right that thinking does not define us as humans, but it is how we make sense of the world, how we interpret sensory data, how we understand our relationship to the world and its relationship to us. I shudder to think about what kind of leaders the college students of today will be when it is their turn, if they don't know how to put their thoughts into words without using AI. This is transhumanism, straight up, no need for virtual reality goggles or a brain chip. It does not bode well for the future.
Hi Betsy - It's an exceedingly complex issue, and I guess I'm in for another series with this one. "Death by Convenience" is one topic title—and that includes exactly what you're talking about—using Chatbots to do your thinking, your research, and your writing for you. Never mind garnering a sense of accomplishment. it truly is the death of the mind and the ability to think and communicate clearly and effectively at any level for those who embrace it.
My prediction is that in the end AI and those who are under the spell of AI will be the only beings (non beings) on social media. Those who care to experience the “real world” will find a new way (substacks?) to get around the infiltration, censorship and counter culture culture. If those who prefer to go to AI for their answers we don’t want them bothering us anyways.
Human beings will always find a way!
Ai is clever, can perhaps save us a lot of drudgery, and might even want to do away with us at some singular point in the not-so-distant future. But it will never match (some of) us for emotional intelligence and our ability to empathise with others. I'm with Clif High on this ("artificial intelligence is retarded"). Have no fear.
Agreed! Much more of a discussion to come!