Having just got my hands on the new general AI agent from Manus I was excited to see what it could do. So I asked it to design, conduct and write up a human subjects research study – with no humans!
You write, "But considering the trajectory that AI is currently on, I find it hard to imagine that we won’t move from clunky gimmick to deeply disruptive technology in a matter of months."
Looking ahead some distance in time as yet unknown, we might imagine such technology growing in to an infinite army of new researchers and scientists which can complete research projects in a credible, accurate and trustworthy manner. If that is a reasonable speculation, the knowledge explosion would presumably be further accelerated.
What I'm hoping to find are people, experts or not, who can reflect on that possibility in a thoughtful intelligent manner. If I had Manus, perhaps I would task it with that search.
Can human beings successfully manage ANY amount of new knowledge delivered at ANY rate? Or are our abilities limited, like every other creature ever discovered?
Can we say that AI stands out historically from other innovations in the sense that the product it delivers is not new? Only the way (and pace) it creates the product is.
I think it's more complex than that. It depends what you consider to be "new" here. Certainly the way that something is created, and how fast this occurs, is different to what we've seen in the past -- but the automation achieved the same. But what AI is doing seems substantively different to this. Interesting question, but I wonder if we need to rethink how we frame the capabilities that are emerging.
You write, "But considering the trajectory that AI is currently on, I find it hard to imagine that we won’t move from clunky gimmick to deeply disruptive technology in a matter of months."
Looking ahead some distance in time as yet unknown, we might imagine such technology growing in to an infinite army of new researchers and scientists which can complete research projects in a credible, accurate and trustworthy manner. If that is a reasonable speculation, the knowledge explosion would presumably be further accelerated.
What I'm hoping to find are people, experts or not, who can reflect on that possibility in a thoughtful intelligent manner. If I had Manus, perhaps I would task it with that search.
Can human beings successfully manage ANY amount of new knowledge delivered at ANY rate? Or are our abilities limited, like every other creature ever discovered?
Can we say that AI stands out historically from other innovations in the sense that the product it delivers is not new? Only the way (and pace) it creates the product is.
I think it's more complex than that. It depends what you consider to be "new" here. Certainly the way that something is created, and how fast this occurs, is different to what we've seen in the past -- but the automation achieved the same. But what AI is doing seems substantively different to this. Interesting question, but I wonder if we need to rethink how we frame the capabilities that are emerging.