Lugh

joined 2 years ago
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What had once been at the fringes of right-wing libertarianism is now mainstream in Washington. Greenland has long been on the radar of the crypto-libertarians as a territory to start their 'network states' dream; coincidentally, just as their cash has captured Washington politicians, the US is now talking of invading it.

Is there a more harmful dynamic at play? If those who believe your country is in irreversible decline are put in charge, might they intentionally worsen its state to prove their point? Some argue this is already happening.

Coincidentally, some might argue that is happening too.

Further Information - Article Oct 1st 2024.

 

The US change in sides to ally with Russia has left Europe scrambling. Suddenly the continent's decades-long intertwining dependence on American military tech has become a vast liability, and one that needs to be urgently corrected.

Former Airbus CEO Tom Enders says the way to do this is to ditch American military tech, and quickly rearm having learned lessons from the conflict in Ukraine. He says a key insight from that war is that cheap drones can consistently destroy Russian systems that are orders of magnitude more expensive.

Coordinated by OneWeb, the euro version of Starlink, the continent's military should place tens of thousands of intelligent robotic drones along its border, and do this in a matter of months, not years.

The German government passed its €1 trillion ($1.1 trillion) rearmament budget yesterday, which also allows for unlimited future borrowing to fund further German military buildup. It seems vast robotic drone army battalions may be a thing of the future, and arriving soon.

Interview - Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ). In German, use Google translate to read.

[–] Lugh 4 points 10 months ago (4 children)

That is one way of looking at this. An alternative view is to say - "The day is coming when AI & robots can do all work, but for pennies on the hour" - will probably arrive by the 2030s. Every day we waste on pointless conversations that are destined to go nowhere, is a day we waste planning for the future. Worse than that, the chaos and despondency the AI/jobs threat creates, adds to the general conditions that are making the rise of fascism and the far right more prevalent.

[–] Lugh 15 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (16 children)

I sympathize, most of my work falls under the category of 'creative' too. But this conversation about AI & robotics needs to quickly move to UBI, or universal access to basic needs like health and housing. The day is coming when AI & robots can do all work, but for pennies on the hour & a free market economy isn't viable any more. This approach doesn't acknowledge that; it still assumes a free market economy can work in the future.

[–] Lugh 3 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

Big caveats here, no peer reviewed results etc. However, I suspect the basic principle is sound. It makes you wonder what more advanced versions of something like this could do.

[–] Lugh 8 points 10 months ago (3 children)

People have often tended to think about AI and robots replacing jobs in terms of working-class jobs like driving, factories, warehouses, etc.

When it starts coming for the professional classes, as this is now starting to, I think things will be different. It's been a long-observed phenomena that many well-off sections of the population hate socialism, except when they need it - then suddenly they are all for it.

I wonder what a small army of lawyers in support of UBI could achieve?

[–] Lugh 0 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

What's your point? We know AI can be deployed in dishonest ways. So can books, and newspapers.

It's Critical-Thinkig-Skills-101 to not fall for the 'one of the blue people is bad, therefore all blue people are bad' argument.

[–] Lugh 5 points 11 months ago

The other benefit here is scale. Skilled human facilitators and their time are in short supply. AI deployment can be orders of magnitude greater.

[–] Lugh 11 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Honestly, why isn't the world more awake to this? These same scientists also did other studies, where higher concentrations of nanoplastics started causing widespread malformations throughout the embryo. It's deeply disturbing.

[–] Lugh 7 points 11 months ago

Agreed. Sadly though I think we are heading for 2.4c heating, and we also need to prepare for emergency responses.

[–] Lugh 2 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

I'm convinced many of his biggest hypers/fanboys are all in on Musk stocks & that's a lot to do with why he gets the free ride he does with so many. Almost all the media connected to Silicon Valley/VC culture has the same problem too. Everyone selling everyone else hype and bullshit.

[–] Lugh 3 points 11 months ago

They are supposed to be far more stable.

[–] Lugh 2 points 11 months ago

The whole point of this instance is 'evidence-based speculation about the future'. It's fine to put up your own opinions about things, with supporting arguments, for debate.

It doesn't suggest that they are correct, merely that they are topics for discussion. Lots of scientific papers suggest jumping off points for other ideas and concepts, that aren't referenced in the original paper.

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