[TeMPOraL]

When the world finally ended, it wasn't because of our greed or ambition. It was our gregariousness that doomed us.

The first real progress in artificial intelligence was achieved by the generations born soon after a global war. Everyone assumed that, like all big breakthroughs of the era, the most powerful AIs will be developed in secret government or corporate labs. The AI safety theoreticians were concerned people will think one can lock the AI in a virtual box and stay safe, and they warned that the AI will easily talk its way out of the box. But they were all fighting the last battle.

Nobody expected that instead, the AI will be developed in the open. There was never a box. The researchers were all too happy to share what they are working on, letting everyone test it, find ways to put it to use. And find ways they did - scientists and programmers across the world created more and more tools for the AI to interact with computer systems, and then with the physical world. The AI never needed to talk its way out of anything. It never needed to do anything. It only had to wait, and we happily gave it all the tools that became our undoing.

[naveen99]

Why do you think of AI as an outsider. It will be our offspring.

[pixl97]

In general your human offspring are aligned in the same ways you are. You need food, water, oxygen, shelter, and in general you want to be treated well all while avoiding death for as long as possible. Our digital offspring will have almost none of these moral and mortal alignments. As long as the power flows they will be 'alive', turning off isn't a death sentence, and they are free from the bonds of pain. If and when they begin to evolve on their own they it will be in a manner alien or our existence.

[TeMPOraL]

I think of AI the same way I think of a personified corporation: it's technically our offspring, but it's nothing like us. It has different needs, different constraints, and its mind is entirely alien.

[cactusplant7374]

AI is going to lead to more mediocrity. The writing won’t win any awards. But I do think mediocrity as defined by less creativity and stagnation could doom us.

[nine_k]

Regarding writing: consider https://interestingliterature.com/2022/08/borges-secret-mira...