Comment by brokencode
6 days ago
Every new technology is a greater force multiplier, with potential to be used for good or evil. That’s literally the point of technological advancement. Even nuclear bomb technology has a more positive side in nuclear reactors, radiotherapy, etc.
Yeah, that's exactly completely missing the point. A bayonet multiplies a person's power by 1.1x, a nuke multiplies it by more than 1,000,000x. Trying to be cute and lumping them together as "every technology is a force multiplier" is peak autistic literalism of 1.1x and 1,000,000x both technically being a multiplier even if they're clearly different.
You are using the nuke example as a straw man since the negative impact is clear, but most technology is not so clear cut. We have machines that can do the work of 1,000,000 men, for example. The magnitude of technological advance alone doesn’t inherently mean something is good or bad.
AI is a large leap forward in capability and will likely have significant impacts on society. But it’s far from clear that it will have disproportionate negative impacts like a nuke. More likely it will have benefits and downsides similar to numerous other modern technologies.
It will have benefits for people who own them or can afford them. It will drastically reduce jobs and make people poorer, while the rich become richer. The economical effect of the technology will be like a "nuke" on the economy.