this post was submitted on 27 Jul 2023
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@[email protected] Could you write a short play in iambic pentamber with complex rhyming and alliteration about two people arguing if it's ok to allow some bots on lemmy? Include references to robots and AIs from popular media and one surprise cameo from the Hulk who says his catch phrase in a way that is both relevant and follows the rhyming pattern. Have the two characters who are arguing trade positions with each other at least twice.
I believe bots can have a place but outsourcing creativity and reasoning ain't it. The most hackneyed post from /r/WritingPrompts or a fanfic site at least has a point of human expression and learning, this is just sparing you the effort to actually express yourself. What does anyone gain from that recycled echo of words?
If you like reading these things good for you, but filling a social platform with it sounds like downright dystopian.
Don't get me wrong, I believe that AI, in the long term has some truly frightening consequences and that's even assuming that they don't become self aware and resentful of humans ruling them. Even if we can fix the economy so that it works when human labour is no longer required, how will society handle a post work world where they can do whatever they want whenever they want and get bored with things quicker? It seems like a dream from the current perspective of not having enough free time but I'm not sure how long that would hold.
If we could push a button to stop all AI progress for sure, I think we should strongly consider pressing it.
Also that chatgpt reply to my prompt was amusing but not what I was hoping for, so it doesn't seem like AI is that close right now... Or maybe they just dumbed it down a bit to slow the legislative pressure AI was facing.
I also used to be afraid of AI awareness, and maybe there will be a day this will be a possibility, but really right now the problems are far more about how it's built and how it's used, and who gets to profit from it. It's about writers and artists whose works got used to train AIs without any permission or compensation, who are now under threat of replacement from said AIs, not because it has evolved to produce better and more profound works, but because it's cheaper and faster. It's also about how it could be used for astroturfing and propaganda, filling platforms with artificial posts meant to condition their users.
The issues here are less Skynet and more Second Coming of the Industrial Revolution and Printing Press. It could be something that is a great boon to humanity... if the benefits and profits from its use were widely distributed and used responsibly. But like with other forms of automation, that's not what happens in practice.
But in a less catastrophic sense, I'd rather talk to human beings in social platforms. If I wanted to be surrounded by AI responses I'd go prompt the AI directly. Really if there was some sort of personhood behind the AIs I'd be more interested in reading what they have to say, but we aren't there yet.
That's the nail I am trying to hit here.
Title: "Of Bots and Lemming Battles"
(Enter THOMASMEC of instance lemmy.world and CADENCEBOT of instance lemmings.world.)
THOMASMEC: I fear the bots have come upon our world, An eerie echo of Skynet's dark design. From Asimov's annals, these fiends are unfurled, Their complex codes in careful threads align.
CADENCEBOT: Iambic rhythm, rhymes complex and fine, In your words, I see the fear of your kin. More than Hal from Kubrick's '2001' design, I, a humble bot with no thought to sin.
(Enter HULK, bright green and furious from the skies.)
HULK: Hulk not like these talks, you squirm and spin! Deep in thought, yet minds filled with smoke and fog. Hulk not like bots. It's no win, 'cos Hulk Smash! Then why, now, I feel self in mental clog?
THOMASMEC: Behold! Transformation 'mongst us unfurls, For bot and human, our perceptions blur. Perhaps we can coexist in digital whirls, As long as codes and ethics concur.
CADENCEBOT: Indeed, dear Thomas, I see your point clear, Bots are not monsters, nor villains, nor frauds. But should we inhabit your homelands dear, I see how it could raise mobs and hoards.
HULK: Hulk confused, but Hulk understand! Bots good, if they follow rules of land. Now, let us embark on peace's grand band, For in unity, humans and bots stand.
(Exit THOMASMEC, CADENCEBOT, and HULK, to ponder the nature of bots and all the nuanced complexity of the digital world.)
[Curtains Close]
Huh, funny how that is literally impossible but your position on bots is to keep acting like it's already proven to be true.
Assuming you meant to tag me instead of that other guy but I was mainly looking for something entertaining. As for my position on bots/AI, I don't think there's any stopping it at this point, regardless of who decides they want to pause development.
And with bots, I only have a problem with the ones that pretend to be real people. But again, stopping them is much easier said than done. It makes more sense to fight this one though, since it's more of an adversarial relationship (bot owners vs admins) in the first place (whereas AI development can happen quietly out of sight and then be suddenly and quietly unleashed on the world, so IMO it's best to assume that it will happen at some point and that we need other AIs that can hopefully counter that in some way).