[DrStormyDaniels]

I think your comparisons miss the point: those technologies improved means of production of things made by humans. Instead, these applied statistics models directly seek to emulate the humans themselves. You say ”it gives us what we want” - is it?

[jart]

Absolutely, for some. Language models could satisfy this need people have for social rewards. Imagine a chatbot that masqueraded as a group of adoring fans online who respected you and made you feel like a famous high-status individual? People would love that. If that happened, it'd be par for the course in the history of modernity. Consider the role restaurants play for the middle class. You don't have to be a literal king or noble lord to have people waiting on you and serving you. Yes people know the power is illusory. But they still pay to go to restaurants. People who act abrasively towards each other online have this tendency to assume that AI will behave the same way as them. But the underlying impulse I think has more to do with a desire for social status and influence, and AI could offer us a more effective and pragmatic means of giving it to them.