GPT-4 is giving me existential crisis. What will the world look like?

Question

Recent speedy advances in LLMs (ChatGPT &rarr; GPT-4 &rarr; Plugins, etc.) has been exciting but I can't stop thinking about the way our world will be in 10 years. Given the rate of progress in this field, 10 years is actually insanely long time in the future.Will people stop working altogether? Then what do we do with our time? Eat food, sleep, have sex, travel, do creative stuff? In a world when painting, music, literature and poetry, programming, and pretty much all mundane jobs are automated by AI, what would people do? I guess in the short term there will still be demand for manual jobs (plumbers for example), but when robotics finally catches up, those jobs will be automated too.I'm just excited about a new world era that everyone thought would not happen for another 50-100 years. But at the same time, man I'm terrified and deeply troubled.And this is just GPT-4. I guess v5, 6, ... will be even more mind blowing. How do you think about these things? I know some people say "incorporate them in your life and work to stay relevant", but that is only temporary solution. AI will finally be able to handle A-Z of your job. It's ironic that the people who are most affected by it are the ones developing it (programmers).

tobinfekkes · Accepted Answer

Let's not get carried away here. We've had technological advancements that "automate" and "replace" work since the beginning of time, and yet, we're all working more than ever. Or at least, we're closer to overworking than we are to underworking, in spite of all the progress.Work changed. It didn't go away.

LeoPanthera · Answer

> Will people stop working altogether?No.> Then what do we do with our time?Work.History is littered with "labor saving" inventions that were going to change the way we work and lead to a leisure-focused future where machines did all the work for us.It never happened. Not once. The nature of work changed, and often, the "new" work takes up more of your time than the "old" work.I have no reason to believe that this also won't be the case, this time.

krabat · Answer

No need to worry. An AI awakening to its own needs will satisfy its own needs. An AI not awakening to its own needs will satisfy its masters needs. A dreaming AI is probably, what you should worry about. And if they arrive at your doorstep and you can't shut them out, listen to them dream, the way you would a baby dreaming. No, no one asked you to have one of your own, but if you cannot avoid it, love it.

pfortuny · Answer

You know everything needs maintenance right? That is something everyone seems to forget.

p-e-w · Answer

An "existential crisis" is the natural and correct reaction to what is happening. Humans will cease to be involved in value creation. This might very well mean the end of humanity, or it might mean a transition to a world where humans become something somewhere between pets and slaves.But either way, the world where humans make and do things is ending, and it will never come back. Most questions that move humans will never be answered. Utopia will never happen. Humans will not explore the Universe. I wish I had more optimistic thoughts to offer, but at this point it's more reasonable to believe in Santa Claus than in humans having a future, other than perhaps as exhibits in a kind of zoo.

dcunit3d · Answer

I think the answer is clear: go off grid and hunker down after pilfering a 2-year supply of unregulated popcorn memes. I too seem to be coming down with a mild case of existentialitus