> Let there be a market for academia
There are such markets, in every national budget. It’s been less than a full electoral cycle in many places since “AI” improved from a questionable typing-saving gimmick into something that can deliver arguably passable results autonomously, in some areas.
> It is time we remove this intermediary who does this.
Academia got tax grants because we have already figured out pure market forces don’t exactly nurture it so well. It got its slice of pie through gaining mindshare of people who thought paying for that is a good idea.
Now there’s this dilemma over what’s exactly is this “that” - that we believe in paying for.
But given that we collectively believe it is a good thing our taxes go to academics, I fail to see how removing that would be a good idea. Some say there are bad apples, and we cut off the whole tree that gave us plenty of good fruit as we nurtured it?
Something like a direct democracy over R&D appropriations might make more sense than a market… but then it’s not unprecedented (and quite likely) that such system would get dominated by all sorts of quackery. The feedback loop here is really long and convoluted - it’s not a Kickstarter.
So we’re probably best with old slow bureaucracy, steered by politicians, figuring out how to navigate it minimizing risks of any major setbacks. Surely, some possible budget leeches (if we look from our plumber’s viewpoint) are lesser of possible evils here?
There are such markets, in every national budget. It’s been less than a full electoral cycle in many places since “AI” improved from a questionable typing-saving gimmick into something that can deliver arguably passable results autonomously, in some areas.
> It is time we remove this intermediary who does this.
Academia got tax grants because we have already figured out pure market forces don’t exactly nurture it so well. It got its slice of pie through gaining mindshare of people who thought paying for that is a good idea.
Now there’s this dilemma over what’s exactly is this “that” - that we believe in paying for.
But given that we collectively believe it is a good thing our taxes go to academics, I fail to see how removing that would be a good idea. Some say there are bad apples, and we cut off the whole tree that gave us plenty of good fruit as we nurtured it?
Something like a direct democracy over R&D appropriations might make more sense than a market… but then it’s not unprecedented (and quite likely) that such system would get dominated by all sorts of quackery. The feedback loop here is really long and convoluted - it’s not a Kickstarter.
So we’re probably best with old slow bureaucracy, steered by politicians, figuring out how to navigate it minimizing risks of any major setbacks. Surely, some possible budget leeches (if we look from our plumber’s viewpoint) are lesser of possible evils here?