It is a common belief that AI will dramatically change the world. While I don’t doubt this in general, I think one aspect that is overlooked in this statement is a core weakness of AI in terms of eliciting behavioral change. My post is not about how AI can change the world in an intra-technology manner (e.g., making videos from pictures, potentially speeding up coding, making processes more efficient/faster). It is about AI-human interaction and the implications of AI on changing human behavior. When AI came out, I predicted that it will not significantly change human behavior, and I stand by that, and I predict that this will continue to be the case. What AI has done in this regard is increase access to information. But the thing is, the information was always there. However, because it was not instant like AI, a small minority of people actually accessed it. Most people asked questions from a trusted friend or relative or authority figure instead, or if they used the internet to search, it would be a quick superficial search, and they would likely give up quickly if they did not find their answer. AI has changed that. Everybody has access to immediate answers and gameplans in every life domain. Want to know how to invest? Just spend 15 seconds typing your age and income and career and it will give you a customized gameplan. Want a work out? Diet? Resume? Etc… However, the paradox is, this information was always out there. It is just that only a small minority of people cared to access it. Why is this? It must be that there is something different about this small minority. They are critical thinkers/seekers of information. So even before AI, they spent the time and effort to find the answers. As for the masses, they never cared, so they never sought this information. So, the question becomes, what now? Now that the masses have this information as well, what will happen? Well, this goes back to my prediction that AI will fail to significantly change human behavior. Let’s take investing as an example. Even before AI, it did not take a genius to know how to come up with a reasonable investment strategy. It was common sense: do not put all your eggs in one basket, do not invest money you are not willing to lose, etc… Yet the majority of people did not abide by this, and instead rack up credit card debt and pay unnecessary interest, etc… So, when such information was so basic and easy, why is it that the majority did not know it? It must be because there is something about them that did not lead them to finding this knowledge. They did not seek it. But now you may say, ok, that is a moot point, because with AI, knowledge is extremely easily to seek, so now the masses will also have all knowledge at their fingertips. But this is where the AI fails. It is one thing to have an investment strategy, it is another to abide by it. You can have the perfect investment strategy, but if you cannot abide by it, then what is the point? And that is where the majority will falter, and AI cannot help them. You can have the perfect gym plan or diet plan, but if you can’t implement it, AI cannot help you. If you cannot catch AI’s mistakes, then it can become counterproductive or meaningless to use. Yet the paradox is that in order to be able to gain an advantage in this regard from AI, you need these skills/mindset, yet as indicated, the vast majority lack them. And I summarize it by saying it largely comes down to impulsivity/lack of curiosity to think. This is where the small minority who even before AI used the internet to dig deep to search, will continue to have an advantage. They will know how AI works, so unlike the vast majority, they will not automatically believe it, they will know when and how to question it/ask it to re-answer, and they will use it in a different way altogether. They will not use it as a substitute for thinking like the vast majority, rather, they will use it as a complement. They will use it like a calculator: to quicken certain cognitive processes by offloading them to AI, while continuing to use their own brain as the overall master thinker who organizes and connects and makes ultimate sense of all thoughts whether they come from their own brain or from AI or from others. submitted by /u/Hatrct
Originally posted by u/Hatrct on r/ArtificialInteligence
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