Stop saying that AI is just a tool and it only matters how it is used

pikseladam

it is not a tool.

charcircuit

>It doesn’t work well for most things: “A car is just a tool, it matters how you drive it. It does work. Cars still exist today. Society didn't decide to go back to horses. >The entirety of all ethics involved in modern technological ecosystems and infrastructures rests solely on how a singular person chooses to use something? No one claimed anything close to this statement. >Tools, then, aren’t “neutral” in any way. Tools may not be neutral. But tools are inevitable. They are a solver to people's problems. > we can simply ask for art and it materializes before us. There is no struggle at all involved, thus the terrible labor of being an artist is removed! Do not confuse the simplicity of early tools with there being no struggle to use something. The most efficient way to convey the exact vision of an artist is not purely a prompt.

sota_pop

Ngl I had to stop reading part way through. I’m no AI spokesperson, but the opinion expressed here is.. > “insultingly naive”, “overly simplistic”, “immature and self absorbed” ..exactly what I would expect from someone partly or majority through a PhD about tools. I like tools, their design, creation, and deployment more than average (though probably less than the author), but you need to come up for air, man. Your interpretation of that phrase is oddly specific, highly esoteric, and completely different from EVERYONE not doing a PhD on tools. > AI is just a tool That word “just” seems to be doing a lot of heavy lifting for you. This sentiment is not intended to downplay the importance of tools on society. The generally understood intent of this phrase is to quell the current hysterics and to reassure anyone unfamiliar with the term _back propagation_ that AI, in fact, is neither alive nor sentient (in the sci-fi sense), and that it is “just” statistical modeling. Do not mystify the technology. > a car/hammer is just a tool While these are unanimously considered tools, I could entertain a long discussion and the “particular specialness” of tools and things that are inherently dynamical systems. > what prototyping _should_ be about The huge majority of the rest of your rant (or what I read of it) is awfully presumptuous and weirdly confrontational. Who can say what prototyping _should_ be? You of many people should understand that the creation and use of tools is contextual, sentimental, highly personal, intimate even. > “But artificial intelligence… intends us not just to sit forward From the first part of “The phrase”… AI is inanimate. Humans DO tend to anthropomorphize, and the whole point of saying “it’s just tool” is to remind people that… inanimate things don’t have an intent! > our tools are using us I find this notion somewhat trite. “The tail wagging the dog”. I’m not arguing that we aren’t impacted by the tools we use nor that the use and proliferation of AI is not impacting society, but it takes a PhD level of mental gymnastics to push that concept as far as you have in your rant. The important takeaway though, is that you are a human, with agency and autonomy. > it only matters how you use it The implication of “How you use it” is that YOU GET TO CHOOSE. what you think, how you think, “how you use it”™, and even whether you use it! The choice is yours. I don’t myself have a PhD, but seriously, do yourself a favor and come up for air. Read the parable of “The Empty Boat”.

jimkleiber

It seems the author is instead arguing that we should say that AI is a destructive tool and we should not use it. I was hoping the article would not label it purely good or bad, but 1) highlight that AI is not just a tool but a very powerful tool and 2) and therefore it very much matters how we all use it and how it uses us. In this framing, we can see the things where it helps and hurts us and society and many levels at various intensities. The article mostly just seemed to say how bad it was, and I don't think being critical of a new tool means to only see how it harms us but rather to see the potential full range of impacts.

leecommamichael

I'm of the opinion that it can be a tool if used as one, but that most people are currently interested in experimenting with various sci-fi visions. I don't ascribe any emotion or judgment to that, either. We should be doing the things we're excited to do if it doesn't cause too much harm.