I miss the time when AI meant a (usually benign) mechanically-based intelligence which definitely passed the Turing test and was undoubtedly "human" in its consciousness. Maybe that's as I'm a Stargate Atlantis fan and that fandom has lots of stories in which Atlantis has a sentient AI looking after her citizens. It's also from Iain M. Banks' "Culture" novels, with all the Minds, and is echoed in Leckie's Ancillary series, and more, many more. But AI feels like a curseword now because of all the crap you discuss in your post. I have to vet all my devices and try to eradicate "bloody AI" from them - always imposed involuntarily by the techbros and capitalist ratrace companies. This current "AI" bullshit has nothing to do with intelligence or, as you say, humanity. It passes no Turing tests and is no more than a calculator or other limited computer tool. It's just another overblown cup-holder the companies are vying with each other to force on us so we'll buy products or look at advertising. We're doubtless wrong to imagine that a real AI that did pass all our tests would resemble our own human consciousness. Maybe because we tried to build it that way? But that would only be its infancy - who knows what it would develop into. I prefer to imagine real AI as wise and humanistic, if not really human, but we're nowhere close to that. All we have are these simplistic, bland, or incoherent products of capitalism. Aspects of them might be useful in a limited way as you say, in specific, concrete fields, but not to do anything human. Not to replace thought or creativity. And they're toys our planet can't afford, the way they consume power and water. Meanwhile, capitalist organisations rush to "get on board with AI", fearing they'll lose money or face if they don't force the latest unwanted trendy crap on everyone. I've become more and more aware of end-stage capitalism this century. The frenzy of profit and production that has us all trapped in a disaster spiral. "AI" is a manifestation of that, as you say, and of greedy, frightened companies and governments. I guess it's to be expected that infantile capitalists who act like aggressive toddlers snatching toys from each other are pushing tools on us that are themselves infantile and dehumanising. So much for "The Culture" - Banks was such a lovely optimist.
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But AI feels like a curseword now because of all the crap you discuss in your post. I have to vet all my devices and try to eradicate "bloody AI" from them - always imposed involuntarily by the techbros and capitalist ratrace companies.
This current "AI" bullshit has nothing to do with intelligence or, as you say, humanity. It passes no Turing tests and is no more than a calculator or other limited computer tool. It's just another overblown cup-holder the companies are vying with each other to force on us so we'll buy products or look at advertising.
We're doubtless wrong to imagine that a real AI that did pass all our tests would resemble our own human consciousness. Maybe because we tried to build it that way? But that would only be its infancy - who knows what it would develop into. I prefer to imagine real AI as wise and humanistic, if not really human, but we're nowhere close to that.
All we have are these simplistic, bland, or incoherent products of capitalism. Aspects of them might be useful in a limited way as you say, in specific, concrete fields, but not to do anything human. Not to replace thought or creativity. And they're toys our planet can't afford, the way they consume power and water. Meanwhile, capitalist organisations rush to "get on board with AI", fearing they'll lose money or face if they don't force the latest unwanted trendy crap on everyone.
I've become more and more aware of end-stage capitalism this century. The frenzy of profit and production that has us all trapped in a disaster spiral. "AI" is a manifestation of that, as you say, and of greedy, frightened companies and governments. I guess it's to be expected that infantile capitalists who act like aggressive toddlers snatching toys from each other are pushing tools on us that are themselves infantile and dehumanising. So much for "The Culture" - Banks was such a lovely optimist.