a thing i don’t get is what is new. i mean, computers have long been much, much “smarter” than humans in, for example, their ability to perform arithmetic, or to remember things. recent AI tools are interesting for sure, but what superior competence of their makes these new systems so threatening, compared to older superior competences?
@interfluidity It's because they're starting to bridge the gap between logic and art/emotion. We expect machines to excel at logic but fail at art (without serious help from humans). But now, whether they're truly creating/feeling or just assembling/simulating, the end result is a product that defies our expectations of what machines are capable of.
@LouisIngenthron they certain have astonished us! during the industrial revolution, though, i wonder whether there weren’t analogous moments of just awe that machines could do these things that previously only humans — and it took so many humans! — could do.
@interfluidity I'd bet good money there were analogous movements along with every "job-stealing" technology.
