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Comment by slfnflctd

My parents are religious fundamentalists, and I've noticed there is increasing FUD being drummed up in their circles about anything to do with AI or significantly altering "what it means to be 'human'". The former is described as a front for evil spirits/demons, and the latter as the penultimate step before apocalyptic events, i.e. a precursor to the worst kinds of evil (in some circles, the 'mark of The Beast'). [For the record, I'm agnostic and feel the author raises some excellent points in any case.]

There will be extreme resistance to these technologies from many kinds of religious people who would be willing to die and/or kill to prevent what they see as a takeover by the most malevolent of invisible forces. I may not agree with their reasoning, but some of their concerns could be worth reframing and considering in a different light.

Personally, I strongly suspect we will have to fundamentally change as a species to get through at least one of the Great Filters looming before us. However, it's important to remember that the road is fraught with many perils and several possible paths which could lead to unimaginable suffering. It really seems to me that we're going to have to get lucky on multiple dice rolls here in the long run.

parent slfnflctd 4 years ago

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