Outperforming Humans…
So Google has just released Gemini, it’s new AI modal which, according to Google is “the first model to outperform human experts on MMLU” (the standardised massive multitask language understanding test these models are benchmarked against).
… but all these advances bring me back to the same thought …
Given that this model comes just one year after the release of ChatGPT and only 9 months after GPT4 it’s clear that things are accelerating at an alarming pace.
A few months ago one might be able to sit in the coffee shop and chat about how AI is getting close to performing some tasks as well as a human.
But before we even get to the end of 2023, computers are demonstrably outperforming us on some pretty challenging tasks — and, I hasten to add, they are already vastly outperforming us on the breath of tasks they can complete (because simultaneously these models are able to act as credible lawyers, playwrights, geographers, artists and physicists .. in a way only a true, rare polymath might do).
What’s the purpose?
So my question is — what is the purpose? No, not what is the purpose of producing super-intelligent AI. That’s obvious. Money.. or greed, gluttony, pride or even envy…
What I mean is: what is the purpose of us?
When I look at our our socio-economic construct in the context of AI I can’t help but see the edge of a cliff. Our entire world is predicated on endless performative productivity growth … but we’re about to render that productivity completely meaningless — or at least valueless. No-one, it seems, has a plan because it’s in no-one’s immediate economic interests to have a plan.
When I look at our culture I see an inexorable decline into the endless, unsustainable consumption of resource and a rising epidemic of obesity of the mind: glued, as we all are, to our black mirrors, fed an endless stream of infotainment and addicted to the dopamine and cortisol with which it infuses us. No-one, it seems, has a plan because everyone is too distracted by literally everything else, everywhere, all at once.
When I then turn to look at our leadership I see … what …? Let’s be honest: a horribly embarrassing assemblage of the most utterly vacuous individuals, devoid of any natural skills, talents or achievements but for their ability to prostrate themselves in the lobbies of corporate interest. They have neither the intelligence nor inclination to even attempt to comprehend the impending economic impact of almost instantaneously obviating the need for a human workforce, let alone the incalculable cultural impact. No-one, it seems, has a plan because they’re all to busy acting like playground bullies to get re-elected or lining their pockets in case they don’t.
So where does that leave us?
Well. Perhaps. Just perhaps this is a group of people who can look beyond the inevitability of change with enough perspicacity to be able to think about what comes next in the realm of human purpose.
What do you think the future holds? Do you honestly think I’ve got anything wrong in all this?
I for one refuse to believe that humanity will fall (though it will surely falter) and furthermore I don’t want to see us become mere slaves to ultra-processed infotainment. I for one feel I have more purpose than that… and I’m going to keep trying to do something about it.
Shameless plug…
In the interests of not going quietly, I’ve started trying to write down my insights, such as they are, and to that end I’ve started a newsletter which aims to cover the increasingly complex and fast-changing nexus between AI, tech, education, governance, health and culture.
If you fancy reading along — or just being there to give me gritty feedback — I’d love to introduce you to Ultra-processed News.
It’s by-weekly and free, obs. 🫶
