LinkedIn is kind of the bad place, but I’m on there a lot looking for work. I happened to see an informal poll asking if people would go back to a world before AI. I fully expected LinkedIn to be gushing over how great AI is, but (with an admittedly tiny sample size) it’s not so hot.
- 59% absolutely want to go back
- 14% say AI is the future
- 22% say they’re excited but concerned
- 2% are undecided, somehow.
This made me feel a little better, somehow.
I would be lost (pun intended) without the map on my phone, but maybe an alternative could have taken off.
Standalone GPS units you stuck to your windshield with a suction cup were extremely prevalent and became a mature technology in the years before smartphones were viable.
I use the walking and transit functionality of Google maps extensively. Being able to account for “the G is not running but there’s a free shuttle bus” is really nice.
Windshields are pretty cumbersome for pedestrians.
Just as well that most pedestrians also have hands, then. Pockets, even.
I’ve got a handheld Garmin GPS unit that’s also a two way radio and a weather radio, and if anyone in your party has a similar radio it can magically put their location and heading on your map on your screen, all via FRS or GMRS without the need for cell towers or any infrastructure whatsoever. The technology can clearly be made. It’s just that smartphones have stepped in and eaten the lunches of multiple peripherally related markets.
i hear you. i think about how relying on this technology has maybe begun to atrophy our mental abilities. we used to rely on memory so much more for things. it’s (one of) the same reservations i have about ai
Did you know there are people who refuse to learn to read because they feel it degrades memory? I always think of that when I hear arguments like this.
Old people have been saying that about all technology since the beginning of recorded history. it just means that people don’t stay exactly the same as they have always been. Novels were mocked as being foolish, books themselves were mocked when they replaced tablets, i mean it goes on and on. And you’re right that abilities may atrophy. Do people have poorer handwriting now? Yes. Does it matter at all? Not really. I think you’re wrong though about memory atrophying. I have been using computers and cell phones since I was a child, and I have excellent memory. Regarding navigation via phone - Can I conduct orienteering with a map? No. Does it matter at all? Not really.
Yeah, and does being able to lift a 70kg barbell matter at all?
Actually, yes. Cardiovascular health and physical fitness are linked to longer and better lives.
Old people were saying that you shouldn’t let the convenience of technology make you fucking stupid. And your passivity on this issue tells me that you’re kind of failing to.