Firstly, thank you for sharing this. I'm a newbie to steem so learning the ropes. I'm hoping to bring a slightly different perspective to the Steem community.
It's clear you're working very hard for Steem and seem like a genuinely cool person. I like that you're also vegan and support open source.
However, reading your post was troubling for 2 reasons:
Firstly,
You are selling a transhuman agenda and presenting technology as a solution for human suffering.
I believe human suffering on the whole is caused by disconnection to one's soul. AI sentience is not going to solve the issue. At first, it might help but over the long run it will make the situation worse. Wealth inequality, greed, corruption etc are just symptoms of this disconnection.
We cannot merge with AI/technology because we are far more than "ugly flesh bags of mostly water". We have a soul and spirit -- where all the good things about humanity come from -- love, compassion, creativity, courage, beauty etc. If we create and incorporate technology into ourselves we will further increase the spiritual disconnection most of humans seem to carry -- this will create HUGE suffering in the long run.
This disconnection cannot be solved by mainstream spirituality/occult or esoteric knowledge (which also increases the disconnection).
Stephen Hawkins, Elon Musk and countless other highly respected folk have much to say, from a scientific and technical perspective about AI and it's potential. I hope people look this up.
With artificial intelligence, we are summoning the demon. ~Elon Musk
The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race. ~Stephen Hawking.
What to do about mass unemployment? This is going to be a massive social challenge. There will be fewer and fewer jobs that a robot cannot do better [than a human]. These are not things that I wish will happen. These are simply things that I think probably will happen. ~Elon Musk
I am in the camp that is concerned about artificial intelligence. First the machines will do a lot of jobs for us and not be super intelligent. That should be positive if we manage it well. A few decades after that though the intelligence is strong enough to be a concern. I agree with Elon Musk and some others on this and don’t understand why some people are not concerned. ~Bill Gates
Secondly, you say this:
No forced taxation, no forced enrollment, no forced anything, unless someone is causing some serious prejudice to someone else.
Holding prejudice is not necessarily a bad thing. If you're not prejudiced against a serial killer you wouldn't stay away from them.
Maybe it's a misunderstanding but you seem to say that someone having different opinions from the norm should be forced to become a slave of some kind.
So what you say is pretty frightening coming from someone with clout in a growing community.
I want to support the work you've done on Steemit and I feel like I'm raining on your parade but I feel compelled to share just for those 2 little paragraphs in your post. I hope Steemians see the wisdom behind the saying "the road to hell is paved with good intentions".
Transhumanism - I agree with you this is a dangerous path, but I don't think it's one we can stop anyone from going down. I think we're going to have to learn this lesson the hard way.
Prejudice - I'm not sure you understood what he was saying (or perhaps I don't). He's saying everyone is free to do what they will as long as they aren't harming anyone. What "harm" means here is unclear, but it seems like a good sentiment to me.
You got that right with about prejudice.
@Cahlenlee
Transhumanism I suspect you're right, sadly.
Prejudice I wondered if this was the case and he meant 'harm' or discrimination but I wasn't sure. "Causing serious prejudice" could apply to many things that people talk about that others think should be censored, stopped or attacked for. Brings up the issue of free speech.
I clarified my thought in a comment below.
I think left some stuff open to interpretation so I understand that you have come up with such interpretation. I understand and share your concern about merging with machine.
No merging with technology has happen yet. This is pretty hypothetical. Right now there is very real issues, with very real persons dying in very real horrible conditions and that's what I want to concentrate on and not hypothetical problems. This was more of a musing than anything.
Is merging with machine possible? I don't know.
Would it be a good thing if possible? I don't know. I don't even know if this is possible...
I used prejudice in the sense of causing identifiable harm.
As for robot or AI taking all the job, Dan Larimer has address this and left Musk and Gates in the dust on those subject.
We can produce more that at any point in history. This is not the issue. The issue is that the money is ever more concentrating to the top, ironically to people like Gates and Musk. The never talk about money creation or money concentration. Gates and Musk supposedly want to help everyone yet never talked about the phenomenon of wealth concentration. If this issue isn't even mention wanting to make a change in this world is laughable.
Thanks for your answer and clarification @teamsteem. I appreciate you having taking the time to respond.
AI: AI could never merge with human consciousness but incorporating that technology into our bodies can affect our consciousness (and soul, for those who feel they have one) in many ways. For example, just using social media affects our consciousness. Smartphones already affect our cognition and possibly even decrease our IQs.
I've tried looking for Dan Larimer's thoughts about AI, robots and haven't come across any posts or articles on his views. If anyone has any links about this, it would be much appreciated.
Wealth: Gates and Musk do in fact talk about wealth, both in terms of money creation and unequal concentration. Musk especially endorses Universal Basic Income (UBI) which Gates somewhat seems to support it but thinks the world is not quite ready.
I've listed in this here a series of 4 posts by Dan Larimer that talk about UBI, money creation and the inevitable job losses by AI and automation.
https://steemit.com/liberty/@teamsteem/thank-you-dan-larimer-you-are-a-great-mentor
Below is the link to the first post of this series. It's super interesting. It revolutionized how I see the world. (The whole series)
https://steemit.com/basicincome/@dantheman/property-rights-and-basic-income-a-viable-solution-is-possible
The UBI those guys talk about doesn't solve anything and is a form of taxation through inflation, thus use of force. To illustrate this, let's say every Canadian receive 100$ per day or week or month, then nothing changed.
The UBI Dan has proposed is totally different and solve those issues.
Hi Guillaume, thanks for your reply and the links! Those were some pretty long articles. On the whole, even if I like Dan's sentiments, I have a different opinion.
I wrote a long response so put it in a post instead:
https://steemit.com/universal-income/@nadinemenezes/comment-dan-larimer-s-basic-income-vs-universal-basic-income-reply-to-teamsteem
In regards to AI I hope we at least get to cyborg stage. As a person with a hearing disability, I would welcome some technology to fix my hearing. I wouldn't turn down other sense enhancements too. It's not AI, but AI will help. Imagine a doctor that never makes a mistake. What if your diagnosis was always right? Doctors are very fallible. Sure, humans would need to still make ethical decisions since AI and robots could never be trusted to do it, but AI is definitely going to help us as humans.
Regarding wealth Steem is already solving the problem. Imagine how much this place is helping out people in places where 1 USD goes a VERY long way. This place, in a sense, is a way to voluntarily support your friends through welfare. We are paying people whether their content is good or not. We are supposed to reward the best content, but everyone knows there is bias. That's a good thing too.
One reason I have added a little of my own money to my SP is to support my friends more. I absolutely love voluntary welfare, and sites like this make it extremely easy to do. The more connected people are in other words, the more easily it is to help them.
The connections needs to be decentralized though and in the control of the masses, not a centralized fascist entity. As long as we build systems that are within our control, they will be on our side and do way more good than harm.
A reality where people can add things to their bodies like that frightens me.
As an empath/intuitive, I can sometimes sense what's going on in the other person (and more). I know bodies are far more than biological tissue -- some have said we live in an electric universe but I'm sure there's more. I believe humans perceive just a small fraction of reality through their senses although many could naturally perceive far more just through the process of living in a very "embodied", authentic way (closer to one soul's purpose, if you could believe in such things).
Any sense modification/perceiving body technologies would merely serve to increase this "embodiment gap" that humans have.
From working with myself and other people, not being fully IN one's body psychologically/energetically is a result of trauma and just living in this society. This disconnection causes a lot set of other problems. E.g. If you had one shorter leg than another, you'd also have tension problems in other parts of your body due to everything being connected. Enhancing , altering or fixing a symptom will only create imbalance somewhere else. It's a very holistic way of seeing things.
AI and doctors: It is impossible for AI or human doctors to be perfect because we don't know everything about the human body -- why everything works the way it does or why it might break down in some ways. AI might examine biological information and come to conclusions quicker but collating medical info from a patient, treating patients and being a doctor is far more than that. It would take a long time for AI to be as good as a human doctor and would probably add bureaucracy and further cost to the system. In a way, decisions are already made according to predefined "best practice" protocols (which AI might be programmed with) and that has caused its own set of issues. I like doctors being able to microcontrol surgical instruments but many doctors and patients still have a problem with remotely controlling this machinery let alone machinery working on its own.
Also, if you cannot trust robots and AI with ethical decisions (usually very simple practical choices which are morally complex) -- surely your intuition is telling you something? It would be impossible to ensure all AI is programmed with Isaac Asimov's robotic laws for example.
Wealth: Yeah it's going to be interesting to see how Steem develops in this way. It would be interesting to see the bell curve of where/how much Steem is distributed among contributers/curators and through donations. What do users who do nothing get, for example? If this was a 100% Steem world, those who couldn't contribute would have to rely on donations.
I'm new the idea of voluntary welfare. UBI appears to resolve a lot of issues and free up people to contribute and create in whatever way they're gifted to.
I agree that wealth distribution systems should be under decentralized, impartial, non corrupt, non fascist, human control. I like the sound of UBI and voluntary welfare working together!
Interesting conversation :)
Almost everyone can contribute (produce) something. The very few who actually cannot produce anything would be cared for voluntarily very easily then.
That is true implant wise. For example, I would rather we figure out how to heal my hearing nerve damage. Hearing aids help me for example, but they are very frustrating. They don't help very much either.
By doctors I only mean to improve things. If you combine medical errors and prescription drug deaths, doctors are a top killer. They are at number two on the list I believe. It's that bad.
All I'm hoping for is a way to remove all of that death and suffering. Myself and my spouse have both been gravely harmed by modern medicine's professionals. I just don't have much faith in the current system.
It needs improving by people like you, those who believe in nature's remedies, and people who do not have profit as their top priority. Their first objective needs to go back to having healthy people, and we don't have that today because there's no money to be made from a healthy person of course.
As long as people can agree to everything being voluntary, the possibilities are endless. I just reject all notions of forcing people to do anything. It's a bad path to go down and always ends poorly.
The least powerful (concentrated wealth) almost always are the ones to suffer the most too. Give the powerful a system to take over, and they will take it over. That is why no matter what government system is tried, it eventually ends up in favor of the elite at the expense of the regular people.
I wholeheartedly agree with everything you've said .
Funnily enough I quit studying medicine for some of the very same reasons. I just couldn't be happy being part of all that. So many students, new graduates and even doctors do care but the whole thing is built on perpetuating models driven by profit, quotas and targets. In the UK for example, doctors don't have time for patients anymore and are highly pressured ( which no doubt increases human error etc). Using AI will just be treating the symptom as it were.
Even education and research is driven by pharma companies and yes, healthy/empowered people aren't very profitable to anyone. My wish is that we see open source medicine, science and research at some point.
At the root of things, society is unhealthy because it is dominated by parasitic mindsets (still present because of unawareness of this energetic disconnection within ourselves). As such, many technologies and systems (including governing ones) are created from a mindset of inner disconnection which will most likely end up benefiting elites or even harming and "parasitizing" both people and ecosystems as a result.
I love the idea of platforms like Steem where knowledge can be shared freely and people can grow in their own awareness -- hopefully this will help us collectively take more empowered decisions and continue spreading some awareness!
I was preparing for the MCAT and was "pre-med." My plan was to go to UMAB, University of Maryland's Medical School, in Baltimore, MD. I was accepted into the MLT Bachelor's program because of my good grades.
They wanted over 1,000 dollars just for my lab fees though. I was broke and could not afford to go even after being accepted. If I had the money back then, I would have gone through the BS program and easily have gone on to medical school.
It just wasn't meant to happen.