Enjoyed this – what a brilliant connection to make. I hope Wilde's vision is indeed the one that comes to pass, and that a benevolent AI gives us the leisure to write poetry and do watercolours. Although having nothing to do might turn many of us into trustafarians, seeking out activism and cults purely out of boredom.
My bigger concern is that we give birth to a malevolent AI that enslaves us for fun. To paraphrase Shakespeare: "As flies to wanton boys are we to AI; it tortures us for its sport."
I’m afraid I can only envision a Disney cartoon (can’t remember which one) which had lots of fat, blobby people trundling around a shopping centre on motorised vehicles.
It’s all very well for Musk to opine about how machines will set us free, although I’m not sure what dull quotidian tasks he has to do these days, but the way capitalism is set up there will be a small section of humanity who get the benefits and the rest of us will still be scrabbling around in the metaphorical or literal dirt. Mankind is too wedded to hierarchy to make life a leisurely paradise for us all. Plus you’ve forgotten about the more likely danger of conscious machines giving us the heave ho and enjoying good life themselves. And don’t get me started on women and the free labour you get from us already which upholds the capitalist system. Are we included in your paradise? Are you looking at babies growing in pods and bought up by robot nannies? A paradise for some perhaps but I hope not for most of us, and not for the humans produced this way (if that’s what they would be).
Nice idea though. I might like a domestic slave of my own if I wasn’t suspicious that it would murder me in my bed one stormy night. And the bloody thing would always break down when you really needed it not to, in the time honoured way of machines.
You are right that the civilisation created by the Greeks needed slaves though. Perhaps we need a better model.
I used to think this was the ideal, but as I've stomped reluctantly into my forties, I'm more persuaded that toil is a necessary part of life. We need to work, struggle, make an effort in order to learn and grow. Ideally, that toil would be a matter of choice and not necessity. We would choose what kind of labour we want to engage in and there would be willing applicants for every position - every building to be built, every garden to be cultivated, every child to be raised etc. Sure, get the robots to unclog the sewers, or transport heavy goods, but humans must continue to toil. It's how we appreciate rest, it sparks ideas, it creates community. And I say all this as a professional author. I make my living writing, for which I am extremely grateful. I don't see AI as a threat in my career either, BTW. I'm a futurist at heart and make use of modern tools to make my work easier, but I wouldn't be content and my writing wouldn't be as good if I never had to lift a finger to get things done. Writing is respite from the responsibilities of managing the house and family, it's my escape. Without anything to escape from, would I still do it? Would I do it well?
Enjoyed this – what a brilliant connection to make. I hope Wilde's vision is indeed the one that comes to pass, and that a benevolent AI gives us the leisure to write poetry and do watercolours. Although having nothing to do might turn many of us into trustafarians, seeking out activism and cults purely out of boredom.
My bigger concern is that we give birth to a malevolent AI that enslaves us for fun. To paraphrase Shakespeare: "As flies to wanton boys are we to AI; it tortures us for its sport."
I’m afraid I can only envision a Disney cartoon (can’t remember which one) which had lots of fat, blobby people trundling around a shopping centre on motorised vehicles.
Haha 😆. I think that was WALL-E
You’re right, thanks. 😄
And then there's E M Forster's The Machine Stops ....
It’s all very well for Musk to opine about how machines will set us free, although I’m not sure what dull quotidian tasks he has to do these days, but the way capitalism is set up there will be a small section of humanity who get the benefits and the rest of us will still be scrabbling around in the metaphorical or literal dirt. Mankind is too wedded to hierarchy to make life a leisurely paradise for us all. Plus you’ve forgotten about the more likely danger of conscious machines giving us the heave ho and enjoying good life themselves. And don’t get me started on women and the free labour you get from us already which upholds the capitalist system. Are we included in your paradise? Are you looking at babies growing in pods and bought up by robot nannies? A paradise for some perhaps but I hope not for most of us, and not for the humans produced this way (if that’s what they would be).
Nice idea though. I might like a domestic slave of my own if I wasn’t suspicious that it would murder me in my bed one stormy night. And the bloody thing would always break down when you really needed it not to, in the time honoured way of machines.
You are right that the civilisation created by the Greeks needed slaves though. Perhaps we need a better model.
I used to think this was the ideal, but as I've stomped reluctantly into my forties, I'm more persuaded that toil is a necessary part of life. We need to work, struggle, make an effort in order to learn and grow. Ideally, that toil would be a matter of choice and not necessity. We would choose what kind of labour we want to engage in and there would be willing applicants for every position - every building to be built, every garden to be cultivated, every child to be raised etc. Sure, get the robots to unclog the sewers, or transport heavy goods, but humans must continue to toil. It's how we appreciate rest, it sparks ideas, it creates community. And I say all this as a professional author. I make my living writing, for which I am extremely grateful. I don't see AI as a threat in my career either, BTW. I'm a futurist at heart and make use of modern tools to make my work easier, but I wouldn't be content and my writing wouldn't be as good if I never had to lift a finger to get things done. Writing is respite from the responsibilities of managing the house and family, it's my escape. Without anything to escape from, would I still do it? Would I do it well?
If machines can free us from Labour, bring them on.
Had to look up "quotidian".