Will AI take over intellectual jobs? Will it take your job? Can democracy survive in a world controlled by data? So many questions, so little time. Chapter 9 of Nexus by Yuval Noah Harari raises some pretty scary questions about the future of automation, governance, and human agency.
You listen to Thinking on Paper because you're not afraid to face the difficult questions about the nefarious side of AI. And Nexus might just be the most depressing book on artificial intelligence you'll ever read. No shortage of dystopian questions. In this episode, Mark and Jeremy get riled up, happy and curious about:
✔️ AI’s impact on jobs. Why automation threatens intellectual work more than physical labor (Mark says he will become a woodchop.
✔️ The flaws in big tech’s business mode: How “free” services manipulate user data. You are never alone with a drone.
✔️ Harari’s 4 principles for a democratic AI future. They are Benevolence, decentralization, mutuality, and change and rest. Good luck with mutuality.
✔️ The automation paradox: why those with social and motor skills might survive. Abnd what should you teach your kids?
✔️ AI vs. human creativity: can machines truly innovate, or do they just remix patterns?
✔️ The ethics of surveillance and data ownership: should corporations and governments share their data with citizens? lols.
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TIMESTAMPS:(00:00) Tech optimism(01:29) Chapter 9 first impressions(03:14) The race for raw materials(06:02) Benelovence, decentralization, mutuality, change & rest(15:30) Automation assumptions are wrong(18:18) Motor skills and social skills in 2050(20:06) The flexible superpower (23:11) Creativity: the last refuge of the human condition(26:53) Does AI have exceptional test?(28:50) Reverse creativity(31:45) Go "Move 37"(33:52) Bank algorithm says no(37:15) Your AI girlfriend(41:08) Mark & Jeremy disagree on pattern recognition
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Learn more: https://www.thinkingonpaper.xyz/technology-book-club/
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