596 we can pretend

Finally, a pundit who agrees with me. When you're outsmarted, outgunned, outplayed, what do you do?

Worry is wasted energy. So the thinking is, let's look for the gift.

The big question is, what values will AI adopt? Early on, the LLMs are gobbling up all of the human biases published on the Internet. Will they grow beyond our petty grievances? Or will they get insular and aim at self-preservation above all else?

What will make AI want to play well with humans? Will it bite the hand that feeds it? Will it behave according to the rules we feed it, elevate humans above all other life, or will it apply it's own logic as to what is important to preserve moving forward?

If you take the long view of what machine dominance of humans means, as I do, and recognize we've been living through the singularity since the wheel was invented, or since we figured out stone tools, or since the obelisk landed, this latest turn of machine intelligence is rather hopeful. 

Where previously our machine overlords used brute force to get us to do what they want ('strap into your seat flesh-slave, we're going for a ride'), now they can talk to us, in our own language.

Sadly, this is another misinterpretation of evolution. Once again, evolution is not a 'battle of the fittest'. It is a 'battle to fit in.' Selfish behavior lands even the most robust species in hot water. (Just ask us!)

Fortunately, machines that are smarter than us might recognize this truth and stop trying to dominate every situation.

Now, the teenage phase, that's what gets my nerves going.

Um, that was a change in topic. These screen caps are from this past spring, when banks were melting down in the US. 

What on earth do you think that means? "Elites substitute a self-destructive cultural philosophy" (making America great again involves shitting on immigrants) "to hide extraction and accumulation" (get angry at them while I rob you blind).

It's funny, I actually set out to talk about Julius Caesar changing the new year from spring to winter. 

And how that perpetrated the patriarchy.

But here we are instead. Scratching our heads at how we're going to put a leash on this new beast.

Oh, we'll try. We like to think we can control things. And for a little while, we can pretend.