I thought one of the implicit points of the open letter was that unsolved problems are not something that falls out of the sky, they are a curated resource that people have spent time on and shared for the benefit of like-minded peers and humanity as a whole. And the AI companies treat them like they treat absolutely everything else: natural resources, literature, art, code etc. as something to be chucked into the ravening maw and pooped out the back as profit. They don't care if mathematics advances, they don't care if they strip-mine the available problems and damage the field. In fact, as with programming I think they see that as in their long-term interest - soon there will be no intelligence or creativity but the one that Sam Altman bills you for.
Yes, and here towards the bottom the author gets to the reason he didn’t sign with the other medalists:
> I felt that there was nothing to be gained from criticizing AI companies for generating too many solutions too quickly.
> Under the circumstances, I think the best we can do is recognise the changes that are coming and try to work out the least unsatisfactory way of dealing with them.
Basically let’s make it a short-term problem and deal with it. Groups of people can deal with short term emergencies. Don’t turn it into a structural issue.
And in my view what’s the alternative in the letter exactly? The tools exist. Is there going to be drama every time somebody decides to use them?
The tools exist, so let’s try to figure out as humans the best way to use them to promote humanity, and let’s advocate against ways of using them which are a detriment to humanity, which is exactly the charge the letter makes. There are cultural norms around the use of every technology.
I'd like to hear how your comment isn't irrelevant noise, then. How does one implement these grand ideas except by state action? Otherwise, people will do what people will do, including proving theorems by machine.
fruitl00p · · focus · HN ↗
junofan · · focus · HN ↗
> I felt that there was nothing to be gained from criticizing AI companies for generating too many solutions too quickly.
> Under the circumstances, I think the best we can do is recognise the changes that are coming and try to work out the least unsatisfactory way of dealing with them.
Basically let’s make it a short-term problem and deal with it. Groups of people can deal with short term emergencies. Don’t turn it into a structural issue.
And in my view what’s the alternative in the letter exactly? The tools exist. Is there going to be drama every time somebody decides to use them?
GPerson · · focus · HN ↗
pfdietz · · focus · HN ↗
Yeah, that's really great for humanity. Just super.
GPerson · · focus · HN ↗
pfdietz · · focus · HN ↗
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GPerson · · focus · HN ↗