[JohnFen]

> On a positive note, you're alive at what will likely be one of the greatest inflection points in human history! How lucky is that?!

That remains to be seen. Not all inflection points are good things. If we're at a major inflection point with generative AI (and I doubt that we are), it's possible that will end up being a bad thing, not a good one.

I'm not saying that this tech will end up being good or bad on the whole, I'm saying that it's far too soon to be able to predict that.

I do agree, though, that it's not the technology itself that presents risk, it's people developing and using it that could go very very wrong.

[taylodl]

Absolutely! Hence the fear. Technology is a double-edged sword - there are always upsides and downsides. With most technologies it seems as though we only discuss the upsides. Rarely are the downsides discussed, or even mentioned. When it comes to automation technology though, the focus always quickly shifts to the downsides. I think that reflects a deep distrust of civilization and the status quo.

[JohnFen]

I think with genAI specifically, a whole lot of the distrust comes from two things: the movement on this front is coming from SV, which has earned a lot of distrust from the general public, and the major players in genAI (particularly OpenAI) have themselves been very clear that they believe the tech is dangerous and they're intentionally gambling with the lives of everyone else.

That, and when people have expressed their natural fear that genAI and LLMs will adversely impact their abililty to make a living, a common response -- especially early on when the fear was much higher -- from the pro-AI crowd is (paraphrasing) "too bad, you can't stop progress". That's not a reasonable response, and it's one that effectively says "you don't matter, sucks to be you." It's not far from saying "AI is your enemy."