Hello, loves!

I propose to blather a bit this morning, starting with some ‘AI’-related ideas and then going I know not where.

Triggers

Jessica Kerr—jessitron—recently published an article that caught my attention: Who are we Now. Jessica is unquestionably a better programmer than I am, thinks very deeply about important matters, and has been digging deeply into the use of current ‘AI’ agents. You should read that article, before you read this and perhaps instead. Here is a quote that I want to call out:

Do I think AI is bad for us? Sure.
Does that mean I shouldn’t use it? No.

Another of my betters, Kent Beck, has also been working with the ‘AI’ systems and in a recent article closed with something that struck me:

The overall outcome for me is (finally) positive:
    Less useless code
   More confidence in the behavior of what remains

Kent has coined the term “genie” in referring to whatever ‘AI’ thing he’s using. I am not comfortable with that. If one has read enough about genies, it might be OK, because the genie in literature is capricious and when it grants you a wish, that wish almost always bites you where you’d prefer not to be bitten. I think a better term would have been “demon”, but I’m neither his boss nor his editor. I’m just some guy, y’know?

More Good than Harm

We live in a world that is incredibly complex, and that owes us nothing. Nature just is, and from the viewpoint of some random human, Jess or Kent or Ron, there is very little that we can really control. To some degree, we can control what we do, and sometimes we can influence what others do but generally not control them, and we might possibly have some influence on the overall system that makes up the world.

While someone might choose to sacrifice themselves, in some way, for something they value highly, I don’t think it’s my place to say that that person over there should sacrifice themselves for something that I care about. We all get to make those decisions for ourselves.

And it’s important to note that we can’t do much good for anyone if we’re dead, or if we live in a cave and do not engage with the world. And when we do engage with the world, we must inevitably do some harm. We eat something that would otherwise have been alive, we step on an ant that would otherwise have brought a delicious crumb home to the nest, we accidentally start a turf war between the Jets and the Sharks. You know how it goes: once you’re a Jet you’re a Jet all the way.

Thoughtful people, “good” people, I would say, try to do as little harm as possible, and try to do more good than harm, in some kind of balancing sense. And that has to start at home: we cannot do any good at all if we harm ourselves too much.

‘AI’ Harms

The current ‘AI’ thing does harms at many levels. Consumes vast resources, pumps money to the oligarchy, destroys rare books, costs ordinary people their jobs, and so on. In my personal view, the ‘AI’ subsystem is a net negative for humanity and for the world. Might it someday turn positive? Almost anything is possible but if it were to happen it would require a major change in the system of the world.

I think that Jessica and Kent think we’re stuck with it. And, as it happens, I, too, think we are stuck with it. We cannot put the genie demon back in the bottle box.

‘AI’ Responses

Whatever our overall thinking about ‘AI’, we have to choose how we, personally, will respond, how we will act within the world system as it is, containing among other evils, this ‘AI’ thing. There are innumerably many ways to respond:

Fight the System
There are those among us with the courage and energy to fight the system, to try to change it into a better system. Within that notion there are many ways to fight, ranging from writing letters to the editor to running for office to burning down the courthouse. Some of those actions work better than others, and it often seems that none of them work very well.
Withdraw
We can withdraw as much as possible from the system, ranging from stopping using Amazon to moving to a subsistence farm with no gas and electric, just a couple of pigs and a flock of raggedy chickens.
Live Our Best Life
I think everyone is really doing this one, making choices that seem to them to result in the best life for themselves, and for those they care about.

My best life, relative to ‘AI’, is to try to use it not at all, or failing that, as little as possible. I can make that choice because I am retired and do not need a job where I’d have to be adept with ‘AI’. The decision does cost me something in terms of what I want, which is somewhat like what I believe Jessica and Kent want.

Jessica and Kent, and many others I know, have made the decision to learn about the ‘AI’ systems, and to learn about them rather deeply, and to share what they have learned. I am absolutely confident that they do that to help others to live well in a world with ‘AI’ in it: helping others is on the mind of most of us who write articles, give talks, and so on. We enjoy being useful. (We may also enjoy the “fame”, and, yes, there is money in it, but with few exceptions, the people I know in my community are not just in it for the bread. They want to help people: they get off on helping people.)

Their best life includes learning about ‘AI’, and sharing what they know. I think that’s a very valid choice.

Other folx, some of whom I know and plenty whom I do not, are using ‘AI’ because their current job requires it, or because they see the handwriting on the wall and know that they’re going to need to be adept with it very soon. They’re doing it to stay employed, to feed themselves and their families, and to be able to do whatever other good they do in the world. Or, I suppose, evil, if any of them are evil henchmen or henchwomen. Henchpersons? Henchones? Never mind.

My own choice, not to participate in ‘AI’, means that I am giving up the possibility of helping people use it well. That is a choice that I make consciously and in the strong belief that it is right for me.

The point is, we all choose how to live our best life, in the midst of the whole glob that is the world, including the ‘AI’ sub-glob, and that is as it should be.

Acknowledge Both Sides

I pulled out those quotes up above. Those are the first time I’ve noticed either of those individuals acknowledging the darker side of ‘AI’ use, which includes not working very well and not being much fun. I’m not saying they haven’t expressed that before, only that this is the first time I’ve noticed.

I do wish that they, and everyone using ‘AI’ would more often acknowledge that side of things, because while we can almost certainly not put the demon back in the box, we might be able to mitigate some of its drawbacks if we are able to keep them in mind and work on them. We might be able to make it less harmful.

Live Your Best Life

I hope that you will pay continued attention to living your best life, minimizing harm and maximizing benefit to the world, as you see fit. Proceed thoughtfully!