Is AI getting out of hand?

As it is, I'm finding it useful for weighing up decisions, for example about buying second-hand electric cars. It is certainly useful for multi searches, coming up with answers far quicker and broader than I could research. But I do find it worrying how very quickly I'm getting used to this simple Google service. There are always bad people about and always will be, that is the risk - yet so much good is already coming from this innovation.

As it is, I'm finding it useful for weighing up decisions, for example about buying second-hand electric cars. It is certainly useful for multi searches, coming up with answers far quicker and broader than I could research. But I do find it worrying how very quickly I'm getting used to this simple Google service. There are always bad people about and always will be, that is the risk - yet so much good is already coming from this innovation.

Honestly? Google’s search engine AI doesn’t bother me much. That’s a fairly safe use for AI (except, it does run the risk of bias or inaccurate data, but you get the same problem with Google’s search algorithm in general anyways)

Okay, so one thing I think we’re getting mixed up with on the other thread is confusing the different roles that AI can play. I think a lot of us see the words “Artificial Intelligence” and immediately think of chatbots. So we’ve already covered some issues with commercial chatbots (ex. emotional manipulation, dependency, crafting non-consensual sexually explicit images, the possibility of encouraging dangerous activity, etc), but obviously chatbots aren’t directly an existential threat. It’s not like ChatGPT is going to suddenly go crazy because someone asks it to make paperclips and destroy the world because of it. The chatbots don’t have that kind of power behind them.

That’s not what we’re worried about. It’s the possibility of general AI agents that are scary.

You’re absolutely right that there have been wonderful applications of AI thus far. I totally agree. But yeah, even if we didn’t have bad people about, AI still has a chance to become the “bad people” itself regardless of how much moral training we give it.

My DiL works in car park management and the industry is becoming increasingly concerned about electric cars spontaneously catching fire, she says they probably have 3 incidents a week nationwide. Electric battery fires are very hard to put out, flare up very quickly and very hot endangering other cars parked nearby, she saw a woman and 2 small children narrowly escape thier car before t caught on fire due to the electric car burning next to it. She said it's not unusual for there to be at least one and sometimes more cars burnt out or written off by an electric car fire.

I know ths has little to do with AI but I'd hate for something to happen to you.

Also having been in a tesla, could you cope with the amount of tech in an electric car? A tesla has an A4 sized screen that you can't turn off as everything is controlled via it. I don't know what other cars have in terms of screen size, but I would have to learn to drive all over again to cope with an electric car, knowing me I'd probably crash it before I ever got it off the drive.

I got "charged" at by a robotic hoover in the superarket the other day, it saw me and speeded up instead of slowing down and avoiding me!