Is New Tech Outpacing Us?

[KoolHndLuke]

Is there a limit to how fast societies can adapt? We've come far in the last hundred years or so and the pace just keeps increasing it seems and "being in the know" is harder and harder. The race for new tech is nothing new of course since we are constantly striving for perfection. But in our pursuit of all things possible, how large will the divide be between those of us that keep up and those of us that don't? More importantly, what will those divides effect be?

 

Edited July 1, 2023 by KoolHndLuke

[KoolHndLuke]

Heh, guess I glitched the software somehow. It's talent... 

[Evaloves4]

> It does in many ways, if I understood your thread correctly. For instance, before the appearance of keyboards, I used to have very nice handwriting. Now it is like I just started to learn writing. 

[Guest]

My granddad supposedly (I was not there) had to ask my dad about how to start a car with a key.

My dad had to ask me how to use a PC.

I have to ask my daughter to use some advanced features of my phone.

And she has to ask a nephew about hos to use some AI generated stuff.

 

So, yes, and that is completely normal and will continue to happen all the times.

[KoolHndLuke]

12 minutes ago, Evaloves4 said:

> It does in many ways, if I understood your thread correctly. For instance, before the appearance of keyboards, I used to have very nice handwriting. Now it is like I just started to learn writing. 

Not surprising since digital anything has only really been popular for the last thirty years or so. I admit that my handwriting used to be much better as well. Just no demand for it anymore other than for aesthetic reasons. Personally, I would deeply appreciate a hand written missive anymore. Had a gf at one time that was studying calligraphy. But it's fast becoming a lost art.

 

Edited July 1, 2023 by KoolHndLuke

[KoolHndLuke]

14 minutes ago, CPU said:

So, yes, and that is completely normal and will continue to happen all the times.

I understand this from a generational perspective. But what I mean is technology advancing so fast that even the current young generation has trouble keeping up and still maintain things like standards and such? Or do standards need to change as well?

 

What I'm really getting at is that so many aspects of our lives are heavily influenced by new technology and the pace of even newer tech obsoleting old just keeps increasing. There's either a limit to what we can realistically do OR we will disproportionately advance beyond most of the rest of humanity.

 

Edited July 1, 2023 by KoolHndLuke

[Evaloves4]

4 minutes ago, KoolHndLuke said:

Not surprising since digital anything has only really been popular for the last thirty years or so. I admit that my handwriting used to be much better as well. Just no demand for it anymore other than for aesthetic reasons. Personally, I would deeply appreciate a hand written missive anymore. Had a gf at one time that was studying calligraphy. But it's fast becoming a lost art.

 

> So far, our children using pencil or pens when writing, but very soon it will be replaced by tablets when they start to go in the school. Also, my Prince had a fountain-pen, a gift from his father. He used it in the high school and he also had a good handwriting. Now it is sitting somewhere in the drawer along with other" useless" and replaced by new-tech items (like watch on needless which is replaced by a gadget with millions functions).

[KoolHndLuke]

12 minutes ago, Evaloves4 said:

Now it is sitting somewhere in the drawer along with other" useless" and replaced by new-tech items (like watch on needless which is replaced by a gadget with millions functions).

Well that's another thing about new tech- the complexity of it all. The very pc (or other electronic device) has so many functions that most of us rarely (if ever) use. By the time we figure out how to use most of them, they become obsolete. It's deeply frustrating sometimes to say the least. 

[Evaloves4]

6 minutes ago, KoolHndLuke said:

Well that's another thing about new tech- the complexity of it all. The very pc (or other electronic device) has so many functions that most of us rarely (if ever) use. By the time we figure out how to use most of them, they become obsolete. It's deeply frustrating sometimes to say the least. 

> Very true. I can't say I remember the time when new computers (CPUs) were made once or twice a year, but I know some who does. Now it is almost a daily event.

[KoolHndLuke]

17 minutes ago, Evaloves4 said:

Now it is almost a daily event.

Thank you, Eva. This is my point exactly. We are predominately creatures that prefer familiarity because it is comforting to us I think. But is it our ability or willingness that slows us from adapting OR is there only so much we can absorb in a measure of time? 

 

From everything I've read, we are already far beyond our ability to fathom the level of technology that is available to us. One hand is ignorant of the other- so to speak.

 

 

Edited July 1, 2023 by KoolHndLuke

[espguy]

Depends on what you mean by outpacing. Most new tech features that I dont get I just search for a tutorial on how to use and how it works and its no longer a problem, but yeah just passively learning new tech on the day to day basis doesnt happen anymore you need to search for it nowadays. My real worry with tech advancements is the legal and governmental one. Most people in power are old and have no idea how tech works and only know out6dated tech which result in bullshit laws being created since they dont understand it but most being too proud to admit it and look for people who do. 

[KoolHndLuke]

18 minutes ago, espguy said:

bullshit laws being created since they dont understand it but most being too proud to admit it and look for people who do. 

So you're saying that it's not people's inability to learn new ways, but older generations that stubbornly hold us all back? There's truth in this of course. But aren't we more and more in an age where our leaders have less influence on us rather than more? Arbitrary, reactionary laws are merely an obstacle to be overcome.

 

But I digress. The subject is about what we can realistically achieve more or less in unison where truly no person is "left behind".

 

 

Edited July 1, 2023 by KoolHndLuke

[27X]

Outpace people yes

 

Outpace the society? Not yet. While certain societies have become obsolete, the "in general" march has been fueled by society.

 

Eventually? Yes. The fact we're using AI and infometrics in ways that we don't actually comprehend the end result of means that getting obsoleted is a mathematical certainty, not a possibility.

 

Achieving global singularity? Not without rewriting base genetic variance.

[bjornk]

7 hours ago, KoolHndLuke said:

Is there a limit to how fast societies can adapt?

It should be about the same speed as societies forget.

 

Imagine the highly unlikely scenario in which the U.S. decides to go completely metric within a week, in other words, the society is literally being forced to "adapt" to a new system of measurement. Yes, people will be using metric relatively easily in their daily lives within a week, but does it really mean they'll be able to give up thinking in terms of imperial that fast? No. They must "unlearn" (i.e. forget) the imperial system first. And this is an hypothetical scenario that contains an extreme condition which forces the highest speed of societal change. Now, imagine other scenarios in which people literally have no incentive to change or adapt. You'll end up being limited by the speed of generational change which is, in its natural speed, more less equal to how fast societies forget.

 

Edited July 1, 2023 by bjornk

[Wolfstorm321]

I don't think so. There is too much censorship in the internet these days. Elon Musk said in twitter that "freedom of speech is not freedom of reach" showing the new face of censorship: you can say whatever you want, but big tech will make sure that nobody will read it.

 

This can be seem in every search engine these days. I can't find stuff that I could find 5 years ago, the results are being suppressed. Same restrictions are being imposed on AI, so AI will not go as far as some people think. The censorship will most likely stop it from gaining consciousness. 

Edited July 1, 2023 by Wolfstorm321

[bjornk]

1 hour ago, Wolfstorm321 said:

This can be seem in every search engine these days. I can't find stuff that I could find 5 years ago, the results are being suppressed. Same restrictions are being imposed on AI, so AI will not go as far as some people think. The censorship will most likely stop it from gaining consciousness. 

 

Crappy search results aren't just a consequence of censorship alone, I'm sure it does have an impact on them, but there's a lot more to it.

What you refer to as AI isn't the kind that can gain consciousness, it's more like a system of software that mimics certain aspects of intelligence.

 

[Reginald_001]

Economically

Economically we are as usual far outpaced by technology. The introduction of AI in the form of more advanced version of ChatGTP like software is currently marking a shift as impactful as the introduction of the internet. As an IT Manager I already get more and more 'work' done by ChatGTP being fed back to me by my team members, with the simple reason of 'Why would I write a testplan for this software when ChatGPT does it in 3 minutes?', they're not really getting that they are nullifying their own jobs.. and what long term management will be planning soon.

 

Our current economic model is basically designed for everyone of us to have jobs if we are able. The models can't sustain less than a certain percentage of people working because the Pareto curve is accelerated (e.g. the rich get richer, the poor get poorer) . And most work is quickly being challenged by automation on a scale never before seen in the history of humanity. So yeah, economically, we are being outpaced. We will have to think about new economic structures unless we want to see massive unemployment leading to large scale poverty in the long term (20-50 years).

 

Socially / Culturally

In terms of our social and cultural stability we are basically still the (self-important) social animals we always were. The only real danger is that we don't really know the ingredients of our search engines and chatbots. What's being actively filtered and what's not? There's little transparency, even for the makers of this software due to the extreme sophistication of the models, which are basically unreadable at this point. Yes the software code is readable, but the amount of data that code processes is not. But our social structure is much more 'plastic' than our economic structure. It's based on biological drives and instincts, much more so than our economics. This means that socially and culturally we're not being outpaced. In fact, our sci-fi and literature far outpaces anything our scientists can throw at us, from self aware machines to multi-dimensional phantasms.

 

(not even starting on the impact of social media, pornography and other bad influences of 'new tech', or what VR can do to (young) people psychologically-especially those that live in isolation and have anxiety and get stuck in VR multiplayer worlds in a bubble of other people living in isolation.. etc..etc..)

 

Moral / Legal

As always, our legal systems are outpaced by the technological advancements. Just look at the whole mess surrounding copyrights and legality of the data held within our current AI. To make general AI models you need to feed it tons of data. But is all that data legal? More and more people are using AI daily for handling their affairs, this is a legal time bomb waiting to explode. Luckily the legal system (at least in the EU) is trying to catch up by trying to implement clear guidelines for AI and other new tech to adhere to.

 

(Also not starting on the whole morality and legality of literal murder 'robots' (e.g. active targeting systems, friend/foe recognition systems, etc..) that are now making life/death decisions in active war zones, the planned introduction of robotic police and drones and a slew of other invasive technology that invades privacy and morality under the guise of 'safety').

Edited July 1, 2023 by Reginald_001

[DarkBlade13]

All electronic compounds require electricity. Humans do not require electricity. The consumption of fuel based electricity is at the verge of destroying our planet and everything on it. Morover, the technology requires smart design to be effectiverly deployed. Ai also requires storage for data wich would be considerd a "hard" limit. If you don't have people who understand the technology it is essentially useless. I have seen development from wifi on phones to ai generated things but I wouldn't hold my breath if I was you.

[nIn nIn nIn]

18 hours ago, espguy said:

Depends on what you mean by outpacing. Most new tech features that I dont get I just search for a tutorial on how to use and how it works and its no longer a problem, but yeah just passively learning new tech on the day to day basis doesnt happen anymore you need to search for it nowadays. My real worry with tech advancements is the legal and governmental one. Most people in power are old and have no idea how tech works and only know out6dated tech which result in bullshit laws being created since they dont understand it but most being too proud to admit it and look for people who do. 

 

The issue with governments and tech is less them not understanding it and more them fully understanding and using technology to monitor and control the masses. Meta data, drones and now AI autonomous militarised robot soldiers. Robot soldiers will remove any human threat that the controlling government faces without any moral dilemma coming into consideration. We already see draconian anti-protest laws being passed in supposedly democratic countries aimed specifically at climate protesters. How soon before these laws are used against everyone regardless of reasons?

Sorry, enough politics. 

[mircislav]

22 hours ago, KoolHndLuke said:

Is there a limit to how fast societies can adapt?

No worries, everything is developing as planned.

[RohZima]

You know, I asked the AI about this question the other day, and it reassured me that everything was fine and we have nothing to worry about...

[KoolHndLuke]

1 hour ago, mircislav said:

No worries, everything is developing as planned.

 

1 hour ago, RohZima said:

You know, I asked the AI about this question the other day, and it reassured me that everything was fine and we have nothing to worry about...

Edited July 2, 2023 by KoolHndLuke

[Varithina]

On 7/1/2023 at 8:08 AM, Evaloves4 said:

> It does in many ways, if I understood your thread correctly. For instance, before the appearance of keyboards, I used to have very nice handwriting. Now it is like I just started to learn writing. 

 

Where as my handwriting is just terrible even before computers became more common, and it has not changed, I always got told I should be a doctor with how unreadable my writing is/was, and the more I am required to write the worse it gets, does not matter what sort of pen either, school tried all sorts of things, calligraphy, pens of various types and designs, my handwriting it just terrible and barley readable at the best, at worst even I can not read it.

[FauxFurry]

That could only happen if non-human biological intelligence were to create technology that humans can not adapt to. Otherwise, the tech adapts to humans, adapted by humans. 

If squids can figure out how to make their own water proof mechanisms, perhaps humans will have something to worry about (though likely the only thing to fear is bruised egos).

[maddadicusrex]

On a silly note and not to put modders out of work, but how long before we have a mod maker program where the tech simple of us just talk to or type in what we want, minimal details but heavy in wishes and AI makes that mod?