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David's avatar

I work with AI daily (my job title has it in the name) and my fears largely mirror yours. I’d add to that the societal disruption caused by a huge shift in labor at a time when society is particularly poorly equipped to deal with that upheaval.

People already believe nonsense, which is to say nothing of nonsense backed by real-time AI-Generated video. Which is a shame, because it’s a very double-edged sword. That same power has almost infinite capacity to make our lives better.

Many knowledge workers and the trades for the most part won’t have anything to worry about for the next 5-10 years, but after that it’s anyone’s guess. The world is about to change profoundly and it’s not ready at all for it.

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EnderAK08's avatar

My second comment is about the state of education, and what parents really expect from their school system. I think the vast majority of conservative complaints about the school system are what liberals think they are: fear of change, and telling the truth about the past.

But I think there's also something revealing in what the average conservative seems to think about education: it's supposed to be boring, uncontroversial, and rarely challenge any parent's ideas about anything. I sincerely believe them when they want reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic. Except for the ones that want an actual Christian education.

I also think it's pretty funny this group constantly complains that kids are bored in schools. How many of us would be bored (and were) in high school if there was nothing to do but some math problems, an obligatory essay, and an assigned reading.

Liberals - and teachers, who happen to be liberal, hold a different view: education is supposed to be challenging, tailored to the student, and maybe a little bit controversial. No wonder liberals are attracted to college, and conservatives think taking a few liberal arts classes is a massive waste of time.

It's not a further mystery, then, why colleges have become so liberal-coded, even in top of the social scene. Conservatives are teaching their kids, especially the boys, to self-select out. I'm really tired of the conservatives showing up to ban books that offend them, but I'm more worried about a subculture in America that thinks there's nothing new to learn.

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