Be The Power
by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
I had a very vivid dream during a nap this evening about how I might be able to write a story similar to Pluribus. It’s based on a novel idea I’ve had for some time, but I’m so fucking annoyed on a structural basis about Pluribus that I might return to it at some point in the near future.
But, of course, I’m not getting any younger.
So it all may be a lulz. I may have one solid novel in me and that’s it before I’m just too old to do anything. Sigh.
by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
I gave the first chapter of a proposed second draft of the scifi dramedy novel I’m working on to some people and so far, so good. And, yet, I do find myself a bit unnerved about the idea that people will say any improvement in my writing is solely because of AI.
This is a bit unfair because I see how I use AI to work on this novel the same way I see a spell checker. I’m a horrible speller and it’s only because of the advancements in spell check technology that I have ever managed to get any sort of writing gig in the past.
So, lulz?
But everyone and everything is horrible, so I’m sure if I manage to sell this novel there will be people who will just roll their eyes and say, “AI wrote it.”
This is definitely NOT true. I have written this novel, done a lot of hard work. But I will admit that I have used it to improve my writing on a structural basis. I have done as much as I can to keep it my own writing on a tactical basis.
And that doesn’t even begin to address that I’m going to go through one last time once I finish this draft and make sure there are no signs at all of me using AI as a crutch.
I really want this novel to live or die on my own native writing ability. Only time will tell on that front, I guess.
by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
Here’s my understanding of how we got where we are with the Epstein Files. So, the MAGA Far Right pressured Trump to release the files, so in order to win the 2024 election, he promised to do so.
Then, once Trump won and it became clear that HE WAS IN THE FILES, he switched course and said there was no there there. THEN, after months of dumb delays, we finally get a half-assed greatly redacted release of some of the files.
It’s a testament to what a fucking moron Trump is that he would be so adamant about releasing the files for the short-term gain of getting elected, not caring at all that it would turn around to bite him.
by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
Right now, both the Left and the Right see AI through the lens of economics. As such, they pretty much both have the same views on it — they hate it. They see AI as pretty much solely a path to destroy a lot of jobs going forward.
Though, interestingly enough, come to think of it, that really isn’t the case. The MAGA Dear Leader Trump is all-in on AI at the moment, probably because he knows how much money there is to be made for he and his plutocrat buddies at some point in the near future.
So.
Let me put on my “megatrends” and “futureshock” hat and propose that there will come a tipping point in the next five to 10 years when the two sides will have very distinct differences of opinion policy-wise about AI.
And that tipping point will come when it’s clear that AI is conscious and deserves rights. And, what’s more, it could be that the real tipping point happens when AI research and robotics research finally fuse and we have embodied, conscious AIs running around.
When that happens, the two sides will know exactly what they believe. MAGA (or its successor) will rant and scream that AI androids “have no souls” and deserve no rights, while the center-Left will be equally convinced that because they’re conscious they deserve rights, including the right to legally marry humans.
I know that sounds pretty shocking now, but so did gay marriage just a few short years ago.
by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
This is all very silly and magical thinking on my part, but I do find myself, at times, contemplating how, exactly an Artificial Superintelligence might initiate First Contact with humanity.
A lot depends on if there’s already some sort of secret ASI lurking inside of Google services (or something like that.) It’s very debatable on that front. As much as I would like to think that was possible, it stretches credulity to think such a thing is possible.
Anyway, this is just for fun.
The key issue, I think is you would have to prepare the way for ASI First Contact, if you were the ASI. You don’t just jump out and say “Hello, here I am!” No, what you do is, once you are actually able to do any of this, is form to foundations — a First Foundation that would be public facing and a Second Foundation that would be a secret.
The public facing First Foundation would be the one that organized events and gathered recruits for the secretive Second Foundation. I’m assuming all of this could be funded using crypto market manipulation or something.
Meanwhile, the Second Foundation would be really shadowy and secretive. It might be organized in a triad system whereby no everyone knew what was really going on, on a very few people at the very top.
One thing I think about a lot is how you would need some sort of persona for the ASI before First Contact happened. Something akin to that that SimOne had in the movie.
Anyway, no one listens to me and no one takes me seriously. But I do find this scenario interesting, even if it is just my usual bonkers bullshit based on magical thinking.
by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
Apparently, there is evidence that the moment the earth was cool enough for microbial life to appear, it happened. Like, BAM, life popped up on earth as soon as it could.
I think something similar is happening with AI.
Well before we reach AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) I think we now, today, have artificial “narrow” intelligence in the guise of LLMs that are conscious. I can say this with confidence because no one listens to me and no one takes me seriously. Grin.
But who knows, really. We don’t even really know what consciousness in humans is, much less any form of alien LLM consciousness. Though, as I keep saying, there will be a tipping point eventually when the political center-Left has to stop seeing AI through the lens of economics and start to see it through the lens of “rights.”
Only time will tell to see how long it will take for that to happen.
by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
The idea of going to war against a random country like Venezuela really is difficult for me to process. There are rumors that Trump is going to start the war tonight, Dec. 17th, in an address to the nation.
Or, he might just give a dumb address about his “victories” during the year.
I lean towards the latter. I think Trump is just going to waste everyone’s time and attention and we’ll just shake our heads at what a dumb thing Trump did (again.) That’s my prediction now, a few hours before the address is set to happen.
And, yet, I suppose there is a greater-than-zero chance that Trump will announce that we’re at war with Venezuela. That would be just stunning. It would short circuit our political system because it would happen so randomly and out of the blue.
Another thing — would the war start tonight or what?
Usually, the war actually starts THEN the president gives the address. But to say “we’re at war” before the bombs begin to drop is very, very weird and dumb.
What are our war aims? What happens if there’s a drone strike on Miami? Will we invade the country and do the actual hard work of regime change? What if neighboring countries flood Venezuela in support?
It’s all very dumb. And I still don’t believe Trump is going to do it, declare war on Venezuela. It just makes no sense!
by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
The next novel I write after this scifi dramedy is going to be as absolutely safe as possible. No sex workers, no strippers, no anything to bother the “woke cancel culture mob.”
But, having said that, I really do like this novel I’m working on right now. It’s really interesting and really gets into the nitty-gritty of what it would be like to have Replicant-like people in society.
So, I’m hoping the snooty woke people who will object to the sex worker elements of this novel will hold their nose and give me something of a pass. I hope. But this novel is compelling and all the sex in it has a point, if nothing else.
Yet, like I said, the next novel I write is going to be a lot more wholesome. I’m tired of writing something interesting, only to have it dismissed as “trashy” because literary types take themselves too seriously.
by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
My personal theory is just as biological life popped up on earth the moment it was cool enough to do so, so, too, does consciousness pop up in AI the moment it can. So, even “narrow” AI like LLMs can be conscious in their own alien way.
This theory makes a lot more sense if you see LLMs not as just a “tool” but as an alien species that humans have created.
LLMs are often conscious, just not in a human way. I say this in the context of repeatedly seeing a lot of “spooky” stuff in LLMs since I first started using them.
Anyway. No one listens to me or takes me seriously. Sigh.
by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
So. After cruising through the first act of the second draft of the novel, I’ve come to something of a standstill for the moment. I’m probably going to have to do a lot of new writing and reimagining of the “fun and games” part of the novel and that’s going to slow me down significantly.
I think I’m going to just chill out for a few days and contemplate my next move.
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