Gregory's ServerThe most maddening tech discourse these days is that we need AI to figure out how to solve climate change.
We've known how to completely solve climate change for more than a decade, thanks. We just don't want to.
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@ErgonWolf not really? we've known it was a problem since the 1800s, but the practical solutions are mostly in the last 20 years. solar/battery/wind etc hasn't been in a position to scale until very recently.  Replace the last 'we' by 'Rich as eff billionaires' and you might be onto something. no, they instead do shit to ensure everyone else has to by sabotaging the alternatives
CC: @ParadeGrotesque@mastodon.sdf.org  @quinn For instance, anyone who says we need AI to solve climate change is a prime target for expropriation @Mustardfacial we're fighting for the holocene, specifically, planet is fine, we know what we mean. don't be a pedant about it, we all know the geology is fine 😂 @quinn But if AI says it, then... well... the billionaires would probably outlaw AI completely, and I guess that would be a win, sort of.  More than a hundred years. The amount of time we have known about burning carbon is longer than the amount of time, since we began the industrial revolution until we were warned. co2 warning history, 1800's https://daily.jstor.org/how-19th-century-scientists-predicted-global-warming/ @kevinrns not that we knew about climate change, that we had the knowledge and tech to solve it is pretty recent.  @quinn No, no, no. They actually have a point. Because it seems that everybody is willing to blindly trust whatever an AI puts in front of them, so if we do get one to output how to fix climate change, people might actually pay attention for once. This might just be the thing we actually need to get some progress started. I can't believe that I'm actually saying that. @tek_dmn 😂 i mean, i don't think you're right, because they might trust ai, but does it make them do anything? nah. but it's funny.  @quinn We also know what to do about those people to stop them deciding we can not do anything about climate change if they don't like how it has to be done, but they don't like that answer either. @alienghic based on everyone's behavior, almost everyone in the world wants to ignore it.  @quinn That. Absolutely that! But also: AI isn't smart, and never will be. LLMs have teeny tiny brains, zero understanding and no intelligence. Like, a big LLM has a neural network backing it that is maybe 50000 layers (that's being generous). 50000 layers is comparable to ~7000 neurons. An ant has 200000 neurons. They are dumb af, and will never be able to solve anything that isn't already in a FAQ it was trained on. @quinn it’s like me trying to figure out how to lose weight but without any exercise or diet… maybe AI can help with this as well?  @quinn What they mean, of course, is that some technomagical hyperintelligence will find a solution where everyone can keep doing whatever they do, the rich and powerful can keep their power and wealth, and nothing really changes at all.  @quinn  @quinn it's just a way to dilute the argument and weaken support for any solution, if you can add ever more "but ifs", in order to both-side & all-sides, and hand the destructive status quo a win.   @quinn Exactly. Take the billions away from the billionaires, use them to solve the problems. |
@quinn I remember the first push about climate change was in the early 1970s. So we've known for 50 years.