There is a lot of excitement surrounding AI. It's said to transform this and automate that. But in what way, exactly? This question has become more urgent as governments and investors pour huge amounts of money into its potential to reshape the world.
Regrettably, even AI's most dedicated followers are having difficulty explaining how AI will truly benefit humanity.
For example, on arecent podcast appearance with Joe Rogan flagged by the Verge, the billionaire AI advocate Marc Andreessen - who'sinvested billionsinvested in AI development through his venture capital company — had difficulty explaining the advantages of AI.
The discussion started, somewhat ironically, with Andreessen claiming that technology leaders have performed poorly in conveying the significance of AI.
So, you're claiming that those in charge of AI have poorly promoted it," Rogan stated. "So, promote it.
Yes - oh, sell it, I mean, look, so it, it is, okay - I mean, okay I'm going to give you the deepest pitch of all, I'm going to give you the, the - okay," Andreessen stumbled right from the start. "So, uh, Isaac Newton spent 20 years searching for this key to what he referred to as 'alchemy.' Hmm, and the concept of alchemy was to transform something common into something rare.
Andreessen continues for another minute, attempting to explain that Newton aimed to transform lead into gold, apparently trying to establish a comparison to the tech industry's effort to turn sand—silicon—into ideas.
Regardless, you might be aware that he never— we've never been able to figure out how to do that," Andreessen added. "And gold remains scarce and valuable,so, envision a type of alchemy that transforms sand into ideas. Take a moment to consider that.
It's barely understandable, to be kind. In any case, Andreessen quickly discards the alchemy analogy and instead argues that AI is beneficial because tasks such as legal cases, health issues, and work are simply too complex for humans to handle alone.
"We constantly encounter these limits on our thinking, such as how intelligent we can be and how much we can understand, and AI is essentially that: thinking on a large scale, available to everyone indefinitely," he claims. Never mind that AI processing power is extremely costly — it certainly won't be free "for everyone" forever.much longer— it also doesn't come anywhere near achieving human-level thinking. Keep in mind, these are essentially largepredictive algorithmsA more precise expression would be "data at scale."
After making his main point, Andreessen then appeals to human emotions: "I guess I see this with my 11-year-old right now, like everyone growing up today is going to have AI." Naturally, this is a circular argument, a way to avoid the real issue, without explaining why having "thought on a large scale" matters, or why thinking is currently inadequate at its present, human-sized level.
The reality that one of AI's most vocal and wealthy supporters struggles to clearly explain why he believes the technology is significant should serve as a clear indication, particularly as the tangible benefits from the technology remain uncertain.far out of reach.
Viewers who commented on the interview videos were not impressed. "Before AI, if I didn't know something, I would just search it online," a TikTok user wrote. "AI reaches the answer quicker, but it's only accurate about half the time. How is that groundbreaking?"
More about AI and human beings:The Person Behind the Simulation Hypothesis Alerts That Humanity's Extinction Is a Chance We Must Accept
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