Why? Because if I’m not right then I am convinced that AI is going to be a force for evil. It will power scams on an unimaginable scale. It will destabilize labor at a speed that will make the Industrial Revolution seem like a gentle breeze. It will concentrate immense power and wealth in the hands of people who I don’t trust. And it will do all of this while consuming truly shocking amounts of energy.
Not only do I think these things will happen, I think the Altmans of the world would eagerly agree that they will happen. They just think it will be interesting / profitable for them. It won’t be for us.
And we, the engineers, are in a unique position. Unlike people in any other industry, we can affect the trajectory of AI. My skepticism (and unwillingness to aid in the advancement of AI) might slow things down a billionth of a percent. Maybe if there are more of me, things will slow down enough that we can find some sort of effective safeguards on this stuff before it’s out of hand.
So I’ll keep being skeptical, until it’s over.
I disagree with this being unique to AI because every improved technology since the automated loom has concentrated wealth and power. AI is an improved technology so it'll do so also.
I disagree that engineers are uniquely equipped to do anything about this fact because the solution to wealth concentration due to improved technology has basically nothing to do with technology and everything to do with sociology and politics.
Our technology keeps improving and I keep being surprised to hear people say "ah, with our improved efficiency, we can finally work ten hours a week and kick our feet up." The first people to say that were the luddites and when they found out that wasn't to be the case, they burned down factories about it. Why do we think it will suddenly be different for this specific technology?
I agree we should do something about it but I don't think the solution involves code.