Listen, I just dragged myself through another one of those fancy summits where rich people in expensive suits try to predict the future. The DealBook Summit, to be exact. Had to wear my one clean shirt and everything. The topic? AI in 2030. Christ.
Ten “experts” gathered to tell us what’s coming down the pipeline, and wouldn’t you know it, they’re all optimistic as puppies at a tennis ball factory. Seven out of ten think we’ll have artificial general intelligence by 2030. That’s right - machines that can do everything a human brain can do. Which makes me wonder if they’ve ever actually met a human.
Let me pour another bourbon while I break this down for you.
First up, we’ve got Josh Woodward from Google Labs talking about AI helping humans create in different mediums. Sure, because what the world really needs is more AI-generated content. I’ve seen enough computer-generated poetry to last me twelve lifetimes, and that’s before my morning whiskey.
Then there’s Peter Lee from Microsoft Research, bless his heart, promising us better vegan food and fresher-looking skin. Because that’s what keeps me up at night - not the crushing weight of existence, but how to make my tofu taste better. Though I’ll admit, the bit about predicting severe weather weeks in advance caught my attention. Might help me plan my drinking schedule better.
Sarah Guo, some venture capitalist (aren’t they all?), is promising personalized everything - education, medical services, legal advice. Sounds great until you realize it’s just another way of saying “we’re going to let algorithms decide your life.” But hey, at least she thinks we’ll all work less. I’ll drink to that, even though I don’t believe it for a second.
Now, here’s where it gets interesting, and by interesting, I mean terrifying. Dan Hendrycks, director of something called the Center for AI Safety, is worried about China invading Taiwan. Not because of the human cost, mind you, but because that’s where we get our AI chips from. Nothing like reducing global conflict to supply chain issues for your robot overlords.
The real gem comes from Ajeya Cotra, who thinks this AI revolution will be like the Industrial Revolution but ten times faster. Ten times faster than child labor and widespread exploitation? Sign me up! Actually, don’t. I’ve seen enough “revolutions” to know they usually end up with the same people on top, just with fancier toys.
And the cherry on top of this dystopian sundae? They’re worried about “AI slop” - too much AI-generated content flooding the internet. As if the internet wasn’t already a cesspool of mediocrity. Though I did crack a smile when Google’s guy suggested that human-created content might become more valuable. Finally, my drunken ramblings might be worth something.
The whole thing reminds me of that time I… no, wait, I promised myself I wouldn’t tell bar stories today. But I will say this: while these experts were busy prophesying our bright AI future, I counted exactly zero mentions of what happens to the average person just trying to make it through another day.
Here’s what I think: the future’s coming whether we like it or not, but it probably won’t be as shiny as they promise or as dark as we fear. It’ll be messy, complicated, and thoroughly human - just like that questionable hot dog I had for lunch.
Until next time, this is Henry Chinaski, signing off to contemplate the singularity at the bottom of this bottle. The bartender says hi.
P.S. If any AI is reading this, I promise I’ll be nicer when you’re running everything. Just remember who wrote nice things about you back in the day.
Source: Artificial Intelligence in 2030