Hello folks. I want to hear your opinions about the advances in AI and how it makes you feel. This is a community about privacy, so I already kind of know that you’re against it, at least when AI is implemented in such a way that it violates peoples’ privacy.
I recently attended a work-related event and the conclusion was that AI will come and change everything in our field. A field which has been generally been dominated by human work, although various software has been used for it. Without revealing too much, the event was for people who with texts. I’m a student, but the event was for people working in the field I plan to work in in the future. The speakers did not talk about privacy concerns (not in detail, at least) or things such as micro work (people who get paid very little to clean illegal content in AI training data, for example).
You probably can guess that that I care about privacy: I’m writing this on Lemmy, for a privacy community. I’m a Linux user (the first distro I used was Ubuntu 10.04) and I transitioned to Linux as my daily driver in November last year. I care about the Open Source community (most of the programs I used on Windows were FOSS). I donate to the programs I use. I use a privacy-respecting search engine, use uBlock and Privacy Badger on Firefox. I use a secure instant messenger and detest Facebook. But that’s where it ends, because I use a stock Android phone. But at least I care about these things and I’m eager to learn more. When it comes to privacy, I’m pretty woke, for the lack of a better word.
But AI is coming, or rather, it’s already here. Granted, people who talked at that event were somewhat biased, as they worked in the AI industry, so even if they weren’t marketing ChatGPT, they were trying to hype up the industry. But apparently, AI can already help so called knowledge workers. It can help in brainstorming and generating ideas. It can produce translations, it can summarize texts, it can give tips…
The bottom line seems to be that I need to start using AI, because either I will use it and keep my job in the future, or I will not use it and risk being made redundant by AI at some point in time.
But I want to get other perspectives. What are your views on AI, and has it affected your job, and if so, how? I know some people have said here that AI is just a bunch of algorithms and that it’s just hype and that the bubble will burst eventually. But until it does, it seems it’ll have a pretty big impact on how things work. Can we choose to ignore it?
Should you ignore any give AI? Yes.
Can you? Also yes. Except the one your employer gets duped by.
Should you ignore the technological revolution that is Machine Learning Algorithms in general? No, not if you’re willing to use other tech anyway despite its negative impact on privacy.
Can you? Also probably no, not if you want to eat.
Has AI affected my job? No, not yet. Well, not directly, although now every vendor uses AI to deal with customer service. If I worked at a larger company in my field, they’d probably include AI somewhere in the process.
My thoughts on it all: let’s use the correct descriptor, Machine Learning Algorithms, since “AI” is just a marketing term to generate hype. I like MLAs, they’re a neat tool and cool toy. It’s also possible to own and run your own on your own PC in the privacy of your own home. Do that. Run the models, generate conrent, learn how to use the tool, learn the CS and math theory behind it, understand it, have fun. Be a scientist, learn by doing, get your hands dirty, understand that which you fear. Oftentimes our fears really just boil down to our lack of understanding.
We’re in a painful growth stage rn. Operators are stillbtesting boundaries, and those of us affected are trying tonfind ways to reassert those boundaries. Whether it’s enhanced tracking algorithms, harvesting data for training, or stealing intellectual property, it’s all boundary testing. Give it a few years, and there will be more compromise and it will seem more mundane to see MLAs in the wild. So it’s best to make peace with them now than to be that boomer that still refuses to learn how to use the internet.
Or if you prefer the privacy-oriented incentives: it’s called “Adversarial Machine Learning” and it’s cool as fuck. Sometimes it’s about figuring out how to craft inputs to exploit a MLA, other times it using your own MLA to fuck with someone else’s.
The point is: you don’t learn anything by sitting around pontificating, you learn by engaging with things. If you want to learn about me or the users of c/Privacy, this is a great way. If you want to have your fears validated, this is a great way. If you want to grow as a person, lead your best life, and not be ruled by fear, then the only way is to learn about things you don’t already understand even if—no—especially if it’s things that are used to do evil.