Brook C > Recent Status Updates

As I am reading Steven Pinker's book, I'd like to see how he understands the concept of progress. I find that progress is not a single thing that automatically equates to 'good' outcomes; advancements in technology can lead to rogue and unreliable A.I., and an overreliance on A.I. can affect jobs, for instance. Nor do I believe that humanity, pre-colonization, was inherently 'worse' and less-progressed.

I'd like to see if there would be any debates between Steven Pinker and Yoval Noah Harari, as I believe several of their ideas about humanity, the Enlightmentment and progress would contradict one another. For instance Harari, in his book 'Nexus', notes several challenges to progress, such as the consistent struggle against mortality and the progress with medicine to the point we become nearly immortal.

The concept of AI overtaking the world is controversial and sounds like something out of science fiction, but the author makes reasonable arguments about how AI could surpass human intelligence given current trends with big tech organizations like OpenAI, Meta and Google. The book has given me new insights on how AI works and how AI could be used both for good and nefarious purposes.