Reverse AI psychosis (not promoting AI)

Iain said:

As a people we have lived with various existential crises through the decades, from the world wars, globalisation, immigration, nuclear war, communism, smart devices, vaccines, social media or whatever is the particular issue of the age. We survived all of them so there is no good reason to imagine the end is nigh.

100% agree, and I’ve put this view forward on other discussions regarding the potential of AI to ruin civilization.

I keep hearing mentions - though I can’t remember specific details - that we are finding more and more evidence that humanity has on several occasions survived inexplicable situations that could have potentially annihilated our species. For example, there was likely a volcano eruption during the middle ages that may have severely disrupted agriculture for several years in Europe, but people of the time could not comprehend how a volcano so far away could cause such darkness. Also, it is plausible that solar flare activity has had a huge impact on massive drops in human populations (I think we’ve recently discovered trees having odd rings that suggest this).

That’s not even regarding the calamities we do know about! Like the ice age, Bubonic Plague, and the Cold War. We’ve grappled with extreme odds to survive on this planet, and even if AI is responsible for massive damage to our culture or population, it is unlikely to completely obliterate us!

Kellyli said:

we don't even have a choice anymore... artificial intelligence is imposed on us, it doesn't matter... it's made worse than religion

It may help to rationalise that if you do not bend with the storm you will break, especially if you have many years of a career ahead of you.

We are way past the point of being able to reverse it and nothing short of a revolution worldwide will stop it in its tracks - and people have been lulled into a sense of lethargy over generations now so I don't see this ever happening.

You don't have to like it, just to realise it is essential to keep your income so you can make changes in other areas to try to balance this.

Learn how to use it safely, use it with caution and be sparing and you will do the least harm. Try to look at it as a necessary evil but do not let a lack of understanding of it scare you.

Kellyli said:

why do I feel like I'm alone in seeing the damage already done and the potential damage of artificial intelligence

You are not alone. The harsh fact is that people have largely stopped caring. You can't make them care or change their way of doing things so if it causes you a lot of distress then my recommendation is to find a good therapist to help you learn to compartmentalise these feelings so they do not impact your quality of life.

As a people we have lived with various existential crises through the decades, from the world wars, globalisation, immigration, nuclear war, communism, smart devices, vaccines, social media or whatever is the particular issue of the age. We survived all of them so there is no good reason to imagine the end is nigh.

If you have learned how to use rationalisation then this is a great tool to keep the fears in their place but if not then I do think a therapist is you best chance to make a change here.

I sympathise and agree with you.  However, like Alexa, I am retired, and it's easier for me to avoid it.

There's a question that keeps running through my mind related to AI.  What happens to the economy when AI takes over the majority of the jobs?  I'm not clever enough to know if it can or will, but that seems to be the direction of travel.  So, if there are no workers, surely that means there are no customers ultimately?  And if that is true, how do the billionaires keep making their money?  No doubt some clever economists have got the answer to that, but it does seem to me somewhat of an obvious thing to ask, and no doubt if it hasn't been realised by those who rely on the drones spending their pay with them, it soon will.  That, no doubt, will concentrate minds, I guess.

Meanwhile, the only thing I can offer is that it is in no one's interest to allow the world economy to fail.  So, I expect that governments and business will, at some point, get together and figure out how to move on.

In my private life (and thankfully, I don't have a work life any longer), I opt out of all AI. If I use Google, I don't sign in, which means no AI overview. However, I use browsers like Startpage and Duckduckgo which make it easy to opt out of their AI. I've wiped it from my Microsoft Windows and just don't encounter it. If I see AI content (including images) on my social media, I scroll past.

I realise you have no control over your employer's use of AI but that's not your fault - it's theirs.