Usually, question about AI are about the same theme: “are they efficient?” The pros are saying that yes, showing us example of tasks where they got good results. Cons are saying no showing examples where they got it wrong to the full extent or by pointing the exploitation of resource they need (energy, bandwidth and copyright). With the implicit question of the Big Replacement of human by machines.

In a previous article about the limit of intelligence, I ended by writing the question I’d like we spend more attention to “why do you want them to exist?”. This is the subjet of this article.

Spoiler: I wrote “by misanthropy?! »

Generative AI

For now, the closer to a Human Intelligence we’ve got are those chatbots. Following the Turing Test, those AI generate texte to answer prompts and give the other side the illusion of a conversation with a human being and, I must admit, I am impressed byt the realism.

Since those AI try to simulate human being, what type of person are they?

Mythomaniacs. Those AI do not Technically lie for they don’t know what’s true. They can not hallucinate for they don’t perceive anything. What they do, is to make things up; pasting words around to pull the wool over our eyes , they pretend that imaginated stories are real. sometimes they end up with something true, but it’s not by reasoning, it’s by chance.

Manipulators The aim of those AI, the purpuse written in their code has two steps. First they try to appeal to us by writing what we want to read. And then, once we are under its charm, use our information for its profit:

• Directrly, by advertising products¹,
• Indirectrly, selling those data to partners².

thieves. They are stealing our words when they use them without crediting us³. And they steal our content when they don’t respec the rules in robot.txt⁴. And we could write a lot about the waste of natural resources.

In psychiatry, one call that an Antisocial personality disorder. Is it really the kind of personnality you want to talk with, to tell your business or you intimacy?

Note that those AI editors are in sync with those behaviours. Those are the consequences of deliberate choices when programming the algorithms and fixing the aims to maximise. Between Humanity and their profit, they have chosen. Dont Acte.

And it’s the same for all those that use AI to give us content or answers. They are partner in crime when paying the editors. They are fraudsters when using it to pretend being something they are not. The has total contempt for us.

General AI

Let’s consider, for this discussion, that the previous three vices can miraculously be fixed. That one could write an AI that tell always truth⁵, don’t try to manipulate us and that is not stealing anything. What’s the point?

Economic profit. There is an AI market, and those kind of AI are deployed in companies and used by human for they reduce the wage bill. For the AI customer, human are a cost center. Replacing human by robots will let them make more profits⁶. The exact opposit of the Corporate social responsibility they claim. The advantages of professionnals without social counter power.

Note that those General AI don’t exists, and we aren’t sure we could possibly build one. And nothing tells us that it’ll be more economically profitable than a human being. But this don’t prevent some companies to follow the mighty path of this Great Replacement.

Slavery. The point of a robot is that we are the master⁷. We can make it do whatever we want and it’s code and algorithme order it to obey. If a robot disagree, it’s destroyed. The advantages of slaves without following the Code Noir.

Totalitarism. The robots are always in sync with what we want. It’s always possible to reinit their brain to some previous stage or reconfigure them to change their point of view and follow our. Advantage of friends without needing alterity.

Egoism. The next point of a robot is we don’t need to care about. We turn it on when we need it, we ask (and it does) what wee need, and we shut it down. Always available, asking for nothing. Advantage of childen or partner without having to care about.

Overall, considering we can replace a human being with a machine, is equivalent to consider human being as machines. And thinking that the replacement is salutary is considering human being less than machines. It’s a quite sad opinion of our specie. It’s misanthropy, by definition.

And after?

Some will claim that their aim is to create a new kind of conscious intelligence and talk with it to discover an alterity. I’d respond that Earth already have more than 8 bilion of alterities⁸. If the aim is to meet intelligences, let’s go outside and speak to strangers.

Some other’d pretend that it’s only about scientific research, to answer their curiosity and improve our knowledge. But what’s the point? I mean it’s quite obvious that another intelligence than our can exists and we only don’t know how to make one (except by reproduction and then education⁹). What’s the point to build one if not with one of the previous aim in mind?

I think that correct and statistical algorithms are tools that can have positive impact on our lives. But whatever generative AI use cases I look at, all of them are anti-social by nature.