Comment by lf88
1 day ago
Chess has always been a game. For other intellectual activities, at least for several people, a big part of the pleasure in engaging in such activities is the sense of contributing something that matters to a collective effort. Strip that away (e.g., because a machine can do the same thing more efficiently) and you effectively make such activities pointless for those people.
That's sad for those people but most humans are not lucky enough to find that meaning in their work. Most people work hard pointless jobs and find meaning elsewhere, in their family, their friends, their faith.
Now maybe AI can do some of those hard pointless jobs for us.
Sure. I am aware of this. It's sad that the first "victims" of AI could be people working in some of the most rewarding professions (art, music, math research...). As far as labor is of concern, however, most people will likely suffer more from social unrest and rampant inequality due to widespread unemployment among white-collar workers. And I am also worried by the potential effects of long-term cognitive offloading.
It would be great if AI could take away the soul-crushing part of the work and leave only the rewarding part. It's not heading that way.