From ac180214d37278bd697deadc4078f382a2577592 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Alexander Goussas Date: Mon, 22 Jun 2026 08:03:10 -0500 Subject: [PATCH] feat: add new post on progress and ignorance --- .../2026-06-22-on-progress-and-ignorance.smd | 48 +++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 48 insertions(+) create mode 100644 content/2026-06-22-on-progress-and-ignorance.smd diff --git a/content/2026-06-22-on-progress-and-ignorance.smd b/content/2026-06-22-on-progress-and-ignorance.smd new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4a0ebeb --- /dev/null +++ b/content/2026-06-22-on-progress-and-ignorance.smd @@ -0,0 +1,48 @@ +--- +.title = "On Progress and Ignorance", +.date = @date("2026-06-22T00:00:00"), +.author = "Alexander Goussas", +.layout = "post.shtml", +.draft = false, +--- + +Last week at a work meeting a team talked about how they were starting to +integrate some AI tools in their day to day work and how useful they were. Then, +they proceeded to present five new team members. Each with their own picture and +name. Only, none of those were real people, but rather AI agents created by the +team. Everyone started clapping and I had to exit the meeting before dying of +cringe. + +If this is not dystopic, then I don't know what is. + +To me this is equivalent and indistinguishable from marrying a robot, which +we've seen happen at least a couple times already. And yet, people shame this +sort of relationship towards artificial intelligence but celebrate the +aforementioned one. + +This speaks to me to a total lack of understanding of the tools we are using. +Attributing human characteristics to the tools we use, such as giving them +names, is a common and natural practice. But AI is no different from a hammer, +and I would not bring my hammer to work and present it as a member of my team, +much less marry it. + +Furthermore, if we lay it down as it is, celebrating the inclusion of five +artificial team members is the same as celebrating the need not to hire five +real human beings to do the same job. Of course, doing the latter is more +expensive, but the companies doing this do not have money problems. + +There are many people focusing on doing more, producing more, having more; in +order to satiate an insatiable need, to fill and endless void, and never +stopping to ask whether what they're throwing their life at will have any +meaning at all when they go back to dust. Which it will not. + +And I cannot help but wonder, when did everything go wrong? How long do we need +to keep moving in this direction before we realize it's a dead end? If the times +before were better it was not because quality of life was, in material terms, +better, but because we had better values. The only value we have now is money, +which really is just a piece of paper. + +Marx thought that capitalism is doomed to failure, that it eventually will +collapse under its own weight because resources are limited and there is only so +much human beings with dignity are willing to withstand before revolting. I hope +he was right. -- 2.43.0