Back in the middle noughties I was a New Agey atheist; keen on modernity, globalization, economic growth, democracy - a sort of libertarian; and saw many applications of evolutionary theory (complex systems theory) to human life... that kind of person.
(See, for instance, this - written at the time; which tried to provide a coherent underlying mechanism for WoC phenomena; derived from complex systems theory.)
And I was much taken by the general idea of the "wisdom of crowds" (WoC) that was prevalent at the time and much discussed (and advocated) on the blogosphere.
This argued (and purported to prove inductively, by empirical examples) the generalizable principle that there was a collective wisdom that transcended the individual's knowledge, ability - and judgment.
To a considerable extent, the WoC theory was merely making explicit, our civilization's existing implicit faith in the authority of groups, committees, voting, mass opinion...
What I then had was a progressivist expectation that things will spontaneously tend to sort-themselves-out (if left to themselves, and not interfered-with by individual humans or interest groups)...
That human affairs are actually much better than commonly acknowledged; and are naturally trended on an upward and positive trajectory.
In contrast, was the true recognition that individual humans would often be dominated by short-termism and selfishness, were lazy, could easily be misled, and in general nearly always were misguided in their aims and actions...
Where I strayed from reality was in sharing the common hopeful delusion that - by contrast - the mass of people, the "system" of people and technologies; had an organic tendency towards self-optimization, self-preservation and improvement.
In sum, I believed (and wanted it to be true) that "crowds" reliably exhibited an innate wisdom and virtue which was absent from to individuals.
Such views are actually much more prevalent and dominant than most people would admit - indeed, however vehemently denied when made explicit - they are almost universal.
For instance, almost everybody implicitly believes - and acts on this belief - that a committee, a vote, is more authoritative than an individual human; that elections are the only morally valid way of choosing a government; that consensus is superior to personal judgment; that (proper) processes and procedures are the best way of conducting important functions such as government, the law, medicine, science, mass media... And so forth.
In sum; there is in Western Civilization an extremely strong and widespread aversion-to and prejudice-against individual persons; and instead a solid faith in the groupish, systemic, and abstract*.
What this amounts to is a metaphysical assumption concerning the nature of reality.
People have a solid faith-in and commitment-to the group (no matter how vaguely defined) and (some kind of) process - as intrinsically superior to any and all individuals.
I say "people" and I mean... nearly everybody, if you dig down and are honest about what you find.
In ancient societies this belief was unconscious and immersive; in modern societies it is conscious - but mediated-by (embedded-in) ideologies and religions.
The problem is that we are, each and individually, trapped and disempowered by such assumptions - and at the level of thinking.
(ie. Before any question of action can arise we are already blocked by our thinking.)
We feel (deeply) that we personally cannot and should not think any thing; unless and until the after relevant group has endorsed it.
But in a totalitarian world inhabited by people who just-are cut-off spiritually from any group, and self-aware to an unprecedented degree; such an assumption is a prison: a thought prison.
It is, in effect, a demand that we ourselves must and ought-to inhabit a societal prison; and all our hopes then become fixed upon that prison becoming as kind and efficient as possible; perhaps (the common "therapeutic" value-stance) functioning more like a hospital than a prison...
But (we believe, because of our assumptions) it is a thought prison society that inevitably must and shall remain.
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How does this related to so-called "AI"?
I think it helps understand the otherwise extraordinary degree of optimism, and indeed existential hope; that so many people place in these new technologies: technologies which operate by rapidly and simply "pooling" and processing vast quantities of anonymous data under the ruling (but implicit) assumption that this is superior to any individual.
"AI", in other words, is a variant of the "wisdom of crowds" assumption:
AI = WoC on steroids.
"AI" seems - to such people with such "wisdom of crowds" assumptions - to offer a permanent way out from the inevitable evil and partiality of individuals - a way forward towards a world of universal knowledge, ability and objective virtue.
My point here is that - to my judgment anyway - the actual nature of what happens with "AI" systems is - by its nature - obviously not knowledgeable, not competent, and cannot-be wise.
The same applies to the (various) systems of democracy, the processes of bureaucracy, the work of voting committees...
Once you become aware of, and explicitly consider, what actually happens inside these "black boxes" then it is obvious that they cannot be good.
For exactly analogous reasons; "AI" cannot be good.
But people have the metaphysical assumptions they have, these are often buried deep, and typically regarded as facts.
Most people evidently do not want to become aware of their fundamental convictions; nor to acknowledge that they are indeed assumptions - therefore not the consequence of evidence and logic.
Yet it is these assumptions concerning what is effective, true and good; that lead to the absurd conviction and hope that "AI" is wise, competent, and will be beneficial overall and in the long term.
Until these ridiculous, but pervasive, "wisdom of crowds" assumptions are exposed and acknowledged**; then many or most people will remain spiritually help-less and resistant to help; emotionally and intellectually in thrall to those who designed, created, implemented, and administer the "AI" systems.
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* Another version of this - although rare nowadays, especially in practice, is faith in the truth and rightness of "tradition" - belief in "the wisdom of the crowds of the past", perhaps. But due to modern self-awareness, it has become impossible to establish unambiguously what is tradition. Tradition itself becomes contested; and then the problem reverts to the modern one of who-or-what entity has the authority to declare what is the real and true tradition. That tradition is a variant of the wisdom of crowds delusion; is evident in the way that so many self-identified traditionalists have embraced and become advocates of "AI". They apparently believe (or hope) that "AI" (properly designed and used...) will become a (generally-accessible and easily-usable) supreme source and repository of the wisdom of the past.
** It was, I think, the fact that I had exposed and made explicit my own atheist, modernizing, groupist, progressivist etc assumptions; that ultimately led to my recognizing their arbitrary incoherence and inadequacy - then abandoning them, and consciously choosing and adopting something better.
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