I like this comparison. Made me realize that it’s all about human connection.
I think the origin of the handmade cup is what matters here, same with human vs. AI content. Did you make the cup yourself? You’ll have memories and pride attached to the cup. Did someone make it for you? The cup will remind you of that person, it will have meaning because of who it’s from. Content you or someone you care about makes will always “feel” different than something made by a random person online.
If you don’t personally know the people making the cups, would a “handmade” label at the store make it more meaningful than if you knew it was likely made by a machine? It’ll still just be an object that you don’t have a direct human connection with, just like the random content you see online. It might “mean” more to you to know a human created it, but if you can’t tell the difference, it still serves the same purpose. The cup lets you drink. The content entertains you or makes you think, react, respond.
I wonder if part of my instinctual “fuck AI” reaction is a reflection of the imaginary connections my brain thinks it’s making with other humans on the internet. Talking to AI feels meaningless… but, for all I know, you are AI. I’m still taking the time to type this. We may never interact again, I may never know who made that handmade cup I bought from the store.
Are we connecting as humans right now? Or is my monkey brain just experiencing this as “this is a moment where I am communicating and that is good”? Can we subconsciously recognize the difference between “real person” and “imaginary person”, or are our brains just satisfied feeling like they’re communicating with someone?
DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works 2 days ago
Sorry, not trying to point fingers, but we had an incident involving a mass-spamming LLM-bot yesterday and your account is 1 day old, so this comment is kinda funny is a way.
Yeah, I have no way to tell if you are real lol.
I mean, obviously I am real…
Or am I?
vsauce theme intensifies
Skullkid@lemmy.org 2 days ago
Haha that is funny, it kinda sucks how reputations has become so important online. I’ve spent my whole life regularly changing accounts, recreating profiles, etc, because it just makes me uncomfortable to have a long digital record of my opinions, thoughts, etc. Last few years I’ve spent more and more time just lurking on forums without accounts because you get accused of being a bot if your account isn’t a few years old! I could easily be an AI responding to your comment, or I could be a person just using AI to reword my thoughts. How much of a difference is there between those? If an AI says “this would be a better way to word that”, but it changes the meaning ever so slightly, is that sentiment still “from a human”? What about when Microsoft word would reword things and correct grammar to make it “more concise” or whatever? Is that the same thing? That was technically a rudimentary form of AI too - artificial intelligence doesn’t mean “talks like a human” despite that being the current public perception. Where do we draw the line? Is it even possible to determine what “counts” as AI at this point, technologically speaking? We don’t even have a solid definition for intelligence, so how can we define an artificial version of it?
This line of thought is fascinating my stoned ass right now holy shit lol
naught101@lemmy.world 1 day ago
On your first point, I think it’s not so much about reputation as about trust. Long-standing accounts at least have the simple trust that’s based on consistency and familiarity. If you meet a new person IRL, you at least get something to go off based on visuals and behavioural cues. A new account online has absolutely nothing to base any trust on.
DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works 2 days ago
I get the desire for anonymity. I was actually here since the reddit API debacle stuff since June 12, 2023, but I’ve since quit Lemmy a few times (to take a break from all the negativity) and always came back with new accounts to start fresh, and every time, during the first month or so, I felt like I was sus as hell lol. Like… nobody even said anything, but even then, I always felt as if I live in the Red Scare era or in Salem during the Witch Hunts and felt as if someone is ready to accuse me.
I have no idea how long I’m keeping this account, but I feel like I said too much life anecdotes, its pointless for me to use another account.
Skullkid@lemmy.org 2 days ago
My thinking is, for all I know, the 5 year old reputable account accusing me of being a bot was just sold to some spammer and it is now posting with AI. I know I’m real, the conversations provoke my consciousness and cause me to have new thoughts, and that’s what I’m here for. Like, no offense everyone, but unless we’re gonna meet up and hang out, it doesn’t really matter to me if you exist or not lol