

How AI could change computing, culture and the course of history One changed how people understood themselves."

One changed how people gained access and related to knowledge, and It can be expected to have implications not just for how people earn their livings and organise their lives, but also for how they think about their humanity.įor a sense of what may be on the way, consider three possible analogues, or precursors: the browser, the printing press and practice of psychoanalysis. The coming of ubiquitous pseudocognition along these lines could be a turning point in history even if the current pace of ai progress slackens (which it might) or fundamental developments have been tapped out (which feels unlikely). The transition into a world filled with computer programs capable of human levels of conversation and language comprehension and superhuman powers of data assimilation and pattern recognition has just begun. It is hard to imagine them underpinning “the power to control civilisation”, or to “replace us”, as hyperbolic critics warn. It is easy to see that those capabilities bring with them a huge capacity for mischief.
#Wolfram player capanilities code#
They produce prose, poetry and code they generate images, sound and video they make predictions based on patterns. That brings clear and present dangers which need addressing.īut in the specific context of gpt-4, the llm du jour, and its generative ilk, talk of existential risks seems rather absurd. "As the special Science section in this issue makes clear, the field’s progress is precipitate and its promise immense. The most comprehensive yet thought-provoking piece about the new era of AI. Helping people with things they resent paying for can also be more effective than doling out treats." Mental accounting is a concept that was coined by Richard Thaler, a behavioural economist, to describe how people put different values on money depending on context.Ī discount on a small purchase feels more significant than the same amount off a big-ticket item, for example. If your perk is a source of controversy, it’s probably not right. Snack cupboards filled with calorific goodies are some people’s version of a sugary paradise, and others’ idea of obesogenic hell. And perks should be motivating to the widest possible group. They should not be touting mindfulness courses if they expect employees to work until they drop from exhaustion. "Perks should reinforce a culture, not be undermined by it.įirms should not be offering employees access to advice on financial well-being if they pay worse than everyone else.
