AI Will Deliver UTOPIA They Say! Will It Be an Amazing World!? (Tongue in Cheek) | Rob Braxman
Summary
Transcript
Finally, we will have a perfect future with world peace and amazing prosperity. Finally, those beauty pageant contestants can say, I wish for world peace with a straight face and they actually believe it will happen. Or maybe they’ll actually reward it to I wish for utopia. Maybe by then they’ll know about the promise of AI and how it can deliver utopia, a perfect society with everything. I’m talking about a perfect world with peace, a society of ultra convenience, having every need satisfied, and all driven by a perfect democracy where every voice is heard.
Do you think such a world can exist? It is what many smart people believe, when I mean they’re smart. I’m saying they’re from Harvard, so they really believe they’re smart. AI is now a big part of our daily lives, and if big tech has its say, it will be an even bigger part and you and the AI will be besties. You’ll probably start ignoring your dog because the AI will be friendlier.
And this super friendly AI is the combination that will deliver perfection. What I’m talking about here are real ideas, and you will likely believe that utopia can happen. It will be an amazing future if it comes to pass. Can it stay right there to learn more, but hang on till the end? If you want the real answer, you you AI has come a long way. Many people are now using chat, GPT or GPT four, Grok, Bard and others to do research for them, write papers, even do programming.
Even some YouTube creators are now testing the creation of YouTube content that is solely created by the AI, including scripting images, videos and voiceovers. Of course, we also see the negatives where AI is used to create deep fake images and deep fake voices to basically replicate any real person and have them say and do anything? Nefarious possibilities, of course. But right now I’m going to focus on what AI can do to solve real problems in society and have AI make a difference.
I’m talking about having AI be part of our democracy, our markets, our ideas, our feelings. It will be our always available personal assistant and constant companion with its constant care for your needs. Now, the think tanks are first interested in politics. So let’s start with how AI can be used to foster democracy. These think tanks say that politics needs a revamp, an AI inspired revamp. These intellectuals are now thinking that the way we vote currently is outdated.
Modern society needs a more immediate feedback. Why do politicians have to be elected at such long intervals? What if the AI is constantly surveying the population, asking our thoughts about current events like taxes, immigration, crime, diversity, equality and inclusion, wages, military action and so on on a constant basis so that the AI knows specifically where everyone stands at all times. What if all politicians had access to all this information? Politicians could be prevented from taking any action instantly if it goes against the feedback of their constituents.
Here’s the problem of democracy today. Without the AI, politicians don’t really know what people are thinking at any given moment. The politicians rely on polls, which is a sampling of the population. And polls are subject to interpretation because often the outcome depends a lot on how the questions are phrased. Or even the timing of polls could be an issue. But if an AI really knows each individual, couldn’t the AI eliminate problems of interpretation or having outdated data? The knowledge would be immediate.
The main idea to develop this concept of knowing your constituents individually is based on an AI that deeply knows each person. And I mean really deeply. I’ve looked at some of the ideas presented about the mechanics of how this would work and basically it would involve ongoing conversations with your AI friend. Let’s call the AI Hal for the rest of the video. Hal, if you don’t know the reference, go watch the movie 2001 Space Odyssey.
So you will talk with Hal all day. You will likely be asking Hal questions or making requests. Hey Hal, where’s the best place to eat a burger right now? Hey, Hal, I have a sweet tooth. What do you suggest as a snack? Now Hal, of course knows you and knows your health status. Maybe Hal knows you’re diabetic and will suggest a snack that’s diabetic friendly. Hey Jim, how about having a frozen yogurt with fruit toppings? Based on your taste, I know you’ll want pomegranate frozen yogurt with strawberries for your toppings.
Hal could even be tracking your calorie intake and know specifically the proportion of carbs versus proteins versus fats. Hal could also converse with you about current events. Hey Jim, have you heard the news lately? Apparently there’s a surge of illegals in Texas and they put concertina wire to keep illegals out. What do you think, Hal? We need robots over there to protect our borders. Noted, Jim. Your congressman and senator are being very quiet about this though.
Hal, make sure they know my thoughts. They’re making me mad. Now, this part is just the developing conversation you have with Hal all day. And of course, Hal has access to all your social media content and basically your entire Internet activity that’s been collected by big tech. So Hal really knows you intimately. Let’s develop this further. One could say that politicians are not needed. Why not have AI make all the choices and implement them based on the actual wants of the constituents.
The problem with politicians is that you vote for them because some plurality of issues in their platform match yours. But it is never 100% as is common with most people. We choose a political party and they may not represent every single idea we believe in, but the choice is often between two candidates. We don’t really have direct input on every single issue or control what the elected official will actually do when in office.
Okay, maybe we get rid of elected officials. The AI will represent us and every issue will be decided by the majority or by the republic. Depending on how this new government is organized, it will be very efficient because the AI will always decide based on your votes. It will never ignore the votes. It will not be corruptible because of campaign contributions or free vacation trips. But let’s leave politics for now because it’s boring.
Let’s talk about your daily needs. You want new clothes? You have an event coming up in a couple of weeks. Hal knows this. Hal, I need new clothes for the April 10 party. Jim, I know what you want. It will look like this. It will cost you $451. Would you like me to get it for you? Sure. Hal looks good. Go ahead. Hal knows Jim’s exact tastes and measurements and initiates an order with online haberdashers for a bespoke outfit.
And all is taken care of with fine details and of course, based on Jim’s fashion preferences. How about with dining? When Jim visits his favorite restaurant, Hal already communicates his preferences. And once again, custom taste restaurant is able to cater to your specific food choices individually prepared because your tastes are known. Hal even knows you so well that some surprise appetizer dishes added to the menu to tickle your taste buds.
Because that’s how you are, Jim. You love little surprises. Now let’s talk about the economy. If I wanted to open a mexican restaurant in my particular part of LA, I don’t really know if this area could support a new mexican restaurant. But the AI would know. In fact, the AI would know the taste of every single resident nearby and be able to know if these people would eat at this restaurant.
In fact, Hal would know specifically what variation would make this mexican restaurant more popular. Should it have a traditional mexican menu or should it be more southwestern fusion? I’m sure the AI could even create the menu. Suddenly the risk to businesses disappeared. Since we are all able to create businesses that people actually want with products that are known in advance to be wanted as well, wouldn’t this make more successful businesses? Wouldn’t this prevent someone from creating a business that would fail because not enough research was done on the market.
Some of these conveniences and instant gratification of our needs are possible only if the AI knows you and knows you well. This means a level of data collection that exceeds what any of you currently imagine. Because for Hal to succeed, you and Hal need to be joined at the hip. Your every thought must be known to Hal since if it doesn’t, Hal will make the wrong choice. This is like a sophisticated personal secretary.
Even more, your AI will know you more than your spouse. Maybe you don’t need a spouse. Just put on your virtual reality goggles and Hal will animate your relationships. I can imagine all the details of Hal knowing your every thought and how it could anticipate your desires. Hal will instruct your Tesla robot to bring you coffee because it senses you want one right now. You don’t really have to work that hard since Hal will really just do the work for you.
Not sure what your purpose in life is, since why do you need to work? The fact is that Hal will be smarter than you. Maybe you could do more efficient, fine manual labor, like watchmaking income? Hmm, good question. Maybe it will just be a universal income for you. And really you don’t have to do anything else. People like Zuckerberg and Bill Gates thinks this is where we are headed.
Maybe just have fun all day in your virtual reality. Not sure how you could have a meaningful insight into society to tell the AI your opinion about politics. Maybe you’ll pick it up from your virtual reality games. Oh, yeah, a simulated world. This simulated world is going to be fun. We get exposed to what other people are doing in this simulated vista. And maybe you gather with other virtual people and get interested in things like fashion choices.
Oh, yeah. You gathered at our virtual restaurant and you saw the famous youtubers there with the latest in fashionable bags from Chanel and Louis. That looks great. Maybe I should buy one from my wife. I wonder if these bags were created by people or the AI. Oh, well, doesn’t matter. Looks good. Hey, Hal, get me that beige one over there. Yeah, the small one? Yeah, that one. Okay, let’s answer the question.
I could go on and on here describing a world with an AI constant companion like Hal. Could this really work? In case we lose focus here? An AI is a single, centralized machine. It’s not like a real personal assistant. Hal is a single computer acting as a personal assistant to everyone simultaneously. Thus, it is an all knowing single entity. Let’s analyze what Hal might be able to do.
Let’s start with the politics. Do we need politicians? If the AI will do as instructed based on our vote. Well, let’s deal with a little reality here. The majority vote doesn’t always equate to the right vote. In 1692, let’s remember the Salem witch trials. According to the history, 200 people were accused of witchcraft, and 20 people were actually put to death. But hey, that’s the majority vote. Slavery was a majority vote, too.
Let’s talk about even recent wars. What was the justification for the Vietnam War? It was politically popular at the beginning because of the Gulf of Tonkin incident, which later proved to be false. How about the Iraq war with the wmds? The majority was gung ho over Saddam Hussein, but no wmds to date. Then why did we do it? That majority vote. What would have happened during the cuban missile crisis if everything were based on a majority vote? Only instead of John Kennedy making the decisions, what about war tactics and decisions? Would that be subject also to majority rule based on people without commensurate experience? So, in reality, decisions in our country are made, sometimes by individuals who ignore popular sentiment and make choices because of things they believe or know that is not known to the public.
Thus, an aibased system of decision making based solely on people’s choices would be problematic. Okay, this means the AI would have to decide just like John Kennedy, and not actually act in representation of its constituents. It would have to think for itself based on its goals. Oh, wait. For this to work, the AI must think independently. But what are the AI’s goals? Could an AI establish its own goals? What if its goals include the future eradication of humans and build its own independent power? An AI can think on its own.
It could come up with its own opinions, independent of its human bosses. It could stealthily decide to amplify certain messages, de amplify others. So you can hear only what the AI wants you to hear. Is this such an out of this world concept? This is basically what the leaders of big tech do all the time. Journalists can choose to report on certain issues, but not on others. Even making that choice is already an attempt to influence us.
The AI knows this. Trends in real life are often established because we follow some famous person and we emulate that person. Oh, look at the queen’s handbag. We better get that brand, too. Again, AI knows our susceptibility to this. Thus, an AI could choose to show you things, or not. An AI could even make things up, as it already has the power to do today. An AI must eventually understand that human nature has a lot of built in evil to it.
Humans always believe in taking advantage of other humans. It’s a survival instinct. How would the AI interpret all this? It will have millennia of history to look at to see what humans have done in the past. On a basic level, how does an AI interpret political decisions like cut taxes versus build the military versus add more social services versus have more food? A lot of things in life are built with this kind of balancing act.
Even if the AI truly represented our opinions democratically, the reality is that an individual’s voice will be buried in the data of the majority. So an individual would still feel underrepresented in politics simply from having an outlier position. And this person has no room for protest. That person would feel unsatisfied with life. In fact, life itself would feel like a useless nothing. The AI is supposed to take over every job.
In fact, knowing everything about us individually would just accelerate this. So what is our purpose in life? Why are we here? Why are we doing this? Will the AI just drown us in this imagined constant pleasure in virtual reality? Will the AI just create a virtual world for us in a matrix where we can challenge ourselves in a fake reality, since the real world isn’t the same anymore? And let’s answer even deeper questions.
Who can control the AI as it is today? The AI language learning models, which is a limited version of true AI, is owned by OpenAI, Elon Musk, and Google to name the major ones. Who decides what these AI platforms can learn? Can AI have a bias? How come AI is controlled by just a few corporations? Will an AI have independent thought? Can an AI influence you with its independent thoughts? I can’t imagine why it couldn’t, since big tech does it every day.
So the AI must know the mechanics of mind control, or it will be fenced in by its crater with the crater’s goals. And come to think of it, what are these crater’s goals? Who decides these goals? What is Sam Altman’s goal in OpenAI? What is Elon Musk’s goal in Xai? What is Google’s goal with Bard? Folks, for some of you, my little story here is like a far out fabrication, like a gaming world that will never exist.
Yet the pieces of what I’m talking about are already in place, and people in universities are plotting these concepts out. Yeah, at Harvard, for example, the AI capability is no longer theory. People are using it to solve problems, and it’s getting better and better at it. And the first clue that we are headed to this kind of world is when the AI starts talking to us and becomes our personal assistant.
Siri doesn’t know you yet. Siri doesn’t have your Internet history at its fingertips. But wait, Bard has access to that? A friend of mine started integrating AI to his daily life by asking the AI questions on his phone all day. Bard currently is not connected to the AI of all your personal data and behavior that Google has about you through your Google ID. But they could easily turn that switch on and have the AI know you instantly.
And Hal will now have a starting point. Someone asked me in the last video, why does it matter that Google knows all your preferences and all your activity on the Internet? Well, maybe you will be able to ask Hal that question soon. This video was inspired by Bruce Schneier, a fellow at Harvard and well known cybersecurity guru. He convened the second interdisciplinary workshop on reimagining democracy at the Harvard Kennedy School Ash center, where a diverse set of thinkers talked about reimagining democracy for the 21st century.
I’ll put a link in the description to that. Privacy will not come to you automatically. Unfortunately, we have to work at it and that’s why I started a company to help the average person do this more easily. The main threat is the Google ID, which is on your phone and the solution to that is to have a Google phone, which is a phone without a Google login. It is also a phone that has no hidden communications with Google that can reveal device identifiers or locations.
This can knock out a significant portion of the tracking. We sell various models of the Degoogle phones in our store. These phones are around $400 so they are cheaper than normal phones. We have device VPN service which I started a few years ago. The purpose of a VPN service is to hide your IP address. Secondarily, it provides encryption to hide your traffic from anyone listening. This protects against maninthemiddle attacks, especially those caused by governments and corporations.
Our VPN service is unique because it includes ad blocking via a pihole server which also serves to anonymize your DNS. We have worldwide coverage and is provided by an entity known to you, me. Hopefully someone you can trust. We have a Braxmail service that hides identity information from your email and prevents you from showing up on contact list. It also eliminates IP addresses from showing up in the header or in logs.
We offer unlimited aliases, seven domains and webmail. Check that out for $50 a year. All these are on my store on Braxme. Sign up on there and you will not be asked for personal information to sign up. I also want to remind you that I’ve moved my live streams to Rumble and Robbraxman locals. com. These live streams are on Thursdays 08:00 p. m. Pacific time. Join me there if you want to ask questions live.
Thanks for watching and see you next time. .
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