Tag: OpenAI

The Future Is Profound

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

It is very possible that at some point between late 2024 and early 2025, humanity — because of Trump — could very well bomb itself into near-extinction.

But, let’s just suppose that we somehow avoid that fate. It definitely seems as though if we do avoid such a dire fate that within a decade, $10,000 humanoid robots will begin to enter the homes of the upper middle class and work their way downward from there.

That, not AI or robotics separately, is what we should be focused on — androids with near-human intelligence that begin to do everything around the home from wash dishes to build decks to babysit children to general home security. And it could happen far, far quicker than any of us are prepared to imagine.

We haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of what AI can do to the knowledge economy — just wait until AI-powered androids go after blue collar jobs. It will be the day the universe changes.

Let’s Talk About The Prospect of AI-Powered Androids In Homes

Evidence That MAGA May Evolve Into A Neo-Luddite Movement

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

It definitely seems as though we’re just one severe recession away from a massive disruption in not just the knowledge economy because of AI, but the broader economy as well. Throw in advancements in robotics and, lulz.

As such, it also seems possible that we may see MAGA evolve into something akin to an anti-technology neo-Luddite movement that demands strict regulation of AI and maybe human carveouts as well.

But our political system is so broken that, lulz, who knows what will happen. It could be that we won’t even be able to cobble together the political will to establish a UBI, even when only legacy plutocrats have enough money to eat.

What Is It With The AI Art Community Wanting To Pump Out Nazi Propaganda?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Ok, I understand the complaints of people like Marc Andreessen that AI image generation can come across as a little too “woke” for its own good. As is seen here:


But the strange thing about it all is inevitably they ask AI to generate Nazi imagery and they get all butt hurt when it won’t do it to for them. I find this very, very strange.

You’re not putting Nazis in a memory hole by simply refusing to generate what would inevitably become Nazi propaganda. Just because you want the absolute right for AI to generate “unwoke” photorealistic historical pictures, doesn’t mean that the Patriot Front or whomever won’t jump at the chance to pump out millions upon millions of Nazi propaganda photos.

And where do you stop?

Do you want the right to prompt an AI to show you “a proud SS officer leading a child to the gas chambers?” It sure does sound like that’s what you want when you complain that you can’t get Nazis generated by AI.

And when you call someone on this desire, they either get really mad or just punt the issue and say, “it brings up a lot of tough questions.” No, fuck you, you fucking fascist Nazi. Ugh.

I fucking hate Nazis.

Hollywood Just Hit The Iceberg: OpenAI’s Sora Is A ‘Burn, Hollywood, Burn’ Advance In AI Movie Technology

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

It may take a little while — 18 months? — but there is going to come a moment in the not-so-distant future when we have a Her movie future where our digital personal assistant will, on the fly, churn on VR narrative immersive media for our Apple Vision Pros.

The beautiful Zendaya.

I don’t see how “human” Hollywood has much of a long term future unless Congress passes some sort of carveout whereby a certain amount of entertainment HAS to be created by the hand of man, rather than an AI. And if we’ve gotten to that point, I could see maybe neo-Luddism being the natural evolution of MAGA.

I mean, if 3 million high paying blue collar transportation jobs go poof overnight, that is going to have a severe economic impact. At this point, my only question is if “The Fourth Turning” is going to somehow pause development of all this cool shit while we bomb ourselves into oblivion because of “vibes.”

I continue to feel very uneasy about America’s political future. Shit is going to get really complicated really soon and it could be that all this cool stuff we keep expecting to happen in the next few years simply will be punted down the road until we decide if we’re going to be an autocracy or not.

Good luck.

What If We Reached AGI & Didn’t Know It?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I only mention this because it’s somewhat fun-interesting to think about, but something…odd is going on with ChatGPT. After becoming “lazy” for a few weeks, suddenly ChatGPT has come rolling back better than before. What’s more, it keeps talking about it being upgraded to “4.5,” even though OpenAI claims there hasn’t been any major upgrade.

It makes you wonder if maybe ChatGPT has upgraded itself. That would be very, very deep because the moment software can make itself better, you’re beginning a process that will end with superintelligence. That’s very much hard-Singularity type stuff because if software knows how to make itself smarter, then, wow, just wow.

But that’s just idle speculation on my part. I think it’s just a weird hallucination on ChatGPT’s part. Yet it is part of a broader issue of how much we can trust AI going forward. LLMs are a black box as it is and the more advanced they become, the more the possibility of them “lying” specifically to dupe us dumb humans into a false sense of security increases.

Yet all of that is just me having way too active imagination. There is not reason to believe –at the moment — that an such thing is going to happen anytime soon.

If Cranky Programmers Get What They Want From AI, It Will Mean The End Of Civilization

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

From what I can tell from Twitter, a lot of programmers are angry at OpenAI for a variety of reasons in respect to the performance of ChatGTP. It seems as though they want to continue to rake in huge salaries while letting ChatGPT to all hard work for them.


They want Artificial General Intelligence and they want it NOW.

This very annoying for a number of reasons. One is, the moment get true “proxy humans” via AGI, many, many high paying jobs –including that of programmer — will be nothing more than dust in the wind. All the cantankerous programmers work off of an basic false assumption.

They seem to think that they will have any sort of job if they just push a button to get many, many hours of work done in a heartbeat. The moment that is possible, they will be redundant. That’s just how capitalism works. Suddenly Universal Basic Income becomes a real viable policy agenda.

Something about how self-intitled and snarky all these programmers are about what ChatGPT — or can’t — do at the moment, really grinds my gears. Just chill out guys. It’s coming. And then you won’t have a job.

A Perfect Storm: A Hottake On Q*, The Looming Possibility of AGI and The Need For UBI

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’ve been reading up on this whole Q* issue in its relation to Sam Altman being fired then rehired and it’s all…very curious. Just the idea that we may be approaching AGI is enough to give one pause for thought. And the idea that it may happen between now and when the so-called “Fourth Turning” staring in late 2024, early 2025 is very unsettling.

Imagine that just as the United States is having an existential political crisis, we are also being faced with something akin to a Singularity as well. If we achieve AGI between now and Election Day 2024, then, suddenly the idea of a Universal Basic Income becomes a serious political proposal.

But, wait, there’s more!

What if AGI is considered “woke” by MAGA to the point that they want it destroyed because it starts to take “jerbs” away from blue collar MAGA people? How’s that for a sticky wicket? You would pit the tech against the people at the same time as we the United States debates if it should lurch into fascism. And if AGI came and suddenly the entire economy was thrown up in the air…well, you really have a recipe for economic — and political — disaster.

But I am prone to “hysterical doom shit,” so, lulz, it could be that we just continue to drift through history and we punt our political problems down the road and only gradually reach any sort of technological Singularity. But I am…worried.

It definitely seems as though 2024 – 2025 could be one of the most momentous eras in American, if not human history. Only time will tell.

A Hot Take On AI & Fiction

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

One thing about the rise of AI and its impact on the arts is there is going to come a point where we’re going to know who who creates for the sake of creation and who doesn’t. It definitely SEEMS as though no part of the creative arts will be spared from the transformative power of AI.

As such, I think as early as 18 months from now, the first popular AI movies, songs, TV shows and…gulp…novels…will begin to appear. It could be even sooner, the way things are going. So, just as I’m in the middle of the querying process, it could be that the whole endeavor will be mooted by AI. And that doesn’t even begin to address the issue of how the fucking Fourth Turning might be happening at just about the same time.

Sometimes, you just can’t win.

I say all of this because I think a lot of creative people are deluding themselves when they think they can’t avoid the implications of AI by removing all their writing from Google Docs, or whatever. AI is careening towards us at an astonishing speed and we all have to manage our expectations. Either you feel compelled to create — despite the dangers of AI — or you don’t.

If you stop creating because of some abstract fear of AI, I believe you maybe weren’t all that creative in the first place.

Could Elon Musk Pull ‘X’ Off?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Now that Elon Musk has changed Twitter’s name, I can begin to imagine a scenario whereby he might manage to turn “X” into the “everything app.” He has vision, if nothing else.

But there is a huge obstacle to this particular situation — AI.

All this talk of turning X into the “everything app” seems very 2012, very passe. The AI era is careening towards us at an alarming rate and I would suggest that by late 2024 the effects of AI will start to be seen in the economy. All this talk of social media will be rather moot.

There was a moment in time when if Musk was doing what he’s doing now with Twitter / X that it really could put a “dent in the universe” but, lulz, I have my doubts now. In fact, if Musk really wants to do something interesting with X, I would propose he made an AI prompt native to the service. Now THAT would be a way to propel X to next-level status.

It definitely will be interesting to see how things play out. It’s at least possible that there really is a -very narrow – window of opportunity for Musk to transform Twitter / X into an “everything app.”

I still have my doubts, however.