Longtermism poses a real threat to humanity
https://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2023/08/longtermism-threat-humanity
“AI researchers such as Timnit Gebru affirm that longtermism is everywhere in Silicon Valley. The current race to create advanced AI by companies like OpenAI and DeepMind is driven in part by the longtermist ideology. Longtermists believe that if we create a “friendly” AI, it will solve all our problems and usher in a utopia, but if the AI is “misaligned”, it will destroy humanity…”
It reminds me of casting a golden calf and then worshipping it as a god. There aren’t even the seeds of the solution to any social problem in LLMs. It’s the classic issue of being knowledgeable about one thing and assuming they are knowledgeable about all things.
There are some seeds there. Llms show that automation will eventually destroy all jobs, and at any time even things we think are unassailable for decades could suddenly find themselves at risk.
That plants a lot of seeds. Just not the ones the average longtermist wants planted.
I think we agree. LLMs and automation in general have a massive labor saving potential, but because of the way our economic systems are structured this could actually lead in the opposite direction of a Utopia instead of toward one as was suggested by the “longtermists” (weird to type that out). The seeds as you suggest are very different than towards the end of conflict and want.
Oh we totally agree, I was just agreeing with you in a slightly tongue in cheek manner.