This piece is interesting. I also think it's deeply flawed. One thing I've noticed, and h/t to @arijoe19 for articulating it so well, is that computer code is a really structured language, and software is a defined problem space with a lot of defined patterns, so software people tend to think everything is a pattern and AI being really good at their job makes them overestimate how well it can do everything else.
The truth is there is a lot more disorder, unpredictability, and humanness in so much of our lives โ and our work โ that I don't think AI applications will always (or even often?) be able to account for.
Matt, for instance, lists journalism as a job in trouble thanks to AI (not that our industry needs more trouble). And it's true that AI can read documents fast and do incredible research and even write clean copy and edit -- it will probably eliminate or reduce the need for some jobs!
But you know what it can't do? It can't work a source over for years on end. It can't / doesn't / won't bear witness to live events. It reminds me of the famous Good Will Hunting scene, where Robin Williams is chastising Matt Damon about being such a smart ass but not being able to describe what the Sistine Chapel smells like. Damon is the AI.
I say this as someone who has experimented a ton with the latest versions of ChatGPT Matt is writing about here. I can feed it limitless writing of mine from my archives and then have it write a take about a new current events story; I've tried, actually, because if it were good it would save me hours of work every day. But it is *always* useless. Not sometimes; always.
Why? Because the AI still can't predict when certain emotional elements of a story drive me away from a previously held position; because it doesn't know what happened to me that week, or what stories I've read about the topic at hand, or an experience my grandmother had that my family always talked about that informs my view on, say, antisemitism or Israel. It just predicts where I'd land on an issue based on what I've written before, which is actually not a great way to understand humans who are always moving in new and different directions.
It just doesn't know. People think humans are finite numbers of neurons and processes and thoughts and learning but I think that is wrong โ we are all constantly changing every day, every second, thanks to new inputs and new experiences.
So yes, I buy that AI will be able to read documents better than your typical lawyer. But can it build a relationship with a client? Or look at a jury and guess what argument might move them to "guilty"? Or know when to cross the lines with a judge or when to step back? I don't really think so. And those limits, to me, are so under-discussed in this dialogue that it kind of discredits everything else.
1. @Brad_Setser's new NYT op-ed argues that China presents a "danger the world economy" because of its enormous trade surplus in manufactured goods.
I think he is identifying an important issue about imbalances.
But his argument and this chart โฌmay exaggerate the problem.
@afkham_azeez May work for a private enterprise (even though its doubtful in the case of twitter itself). But doing so for govt institutions where it's a matter of life and death for people on the fringes is dangerous and lacks any empathy IMHO.
@afkham_azeez I feel your pain man. I am a minor-minority :) being a Catholic. There were instances this has impacted my folks - specially under Gota/Rajapaksa regime. We have to collectively change the tables inch by inch. There's no other alternative.
@PrasadTissera@h_liyan Very true @PrasadTissera. It does mean a massive corrective shift in political and economical stance if we at least start though.
@Prashandevisser@NibrasAdambawa@anuradisanayake Guess the best way to judge is based on actions. Where would u place him amongst other candidates in terms of being "good". Party policies do matter but when it comes to execution of those a genuine human being who understands the common man matters imho.
@h_liyan An even better option is to actively follow and understand what they are bringing in addition to just being an alternative. I personally don't see any other voting option. Even SJB is taking us right back to the start of another vicious cycle.