this post was submitted on 14 Jun 2026
248 points (93.4% liked)

Technology

85463 readers
4142 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related news or articles.
  3. Be excellent to each other!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, this includes using AI responses and summaries. To ask if your bot can be added please contact a mod.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
  10. Accounts 7 days and younger will have their posts automatically removed.

Approved Bots


founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] XLE@piefed.social 0 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

Ah, the fear of the potential thing as described by the ultra-rich.

Why do you trust them to be the ones who shape your fears?

[–] LesserAbe@lemmy.world 1 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

I don't think you're engaging with what I'm saying sincerely, and I'm trying to do that with you.

[–] XLE@piefed.social 1 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

I was responding directly to this.

Is lack of open source AI currently a civilizational existential threat? No. Could it be if current trends continue? Potentially. Things could get pretty dystopian if only the mega rich control tools with ultra-intelligence.

"Could", "potentially," what-ifs. CEOs and actual cult leaders like Eli Yudkowsky have spoonfed the narrative to gullible journalists and politicians.

Why do you trust them?

[–] LesserAbe@lemmy.world 1 points 5 hours ago

Yeah, it's in AI companies interest to hype how all powerful their product is. I'm not necessarily talking about that.

When I say potentially, I'm not a doomer, so not trying to say there's no hope, I do think we can make the world better than it is.

That said, one example of dystopian future: one of my clients makes networked security cameras. I saw a presentation where they were showing off their AI search capability. They had a static shot of an expressway, with hours of footage, and they said "I want to find a person in a bus wearing a brown shirt" and just like that pulled up the relevant moment. Not something you want an authoritarian to have. They're going to get it anyways. But would love to have similar power available to the people.

Likewise when you think about accumulation of capital, which is shorthand for accumulation of power. AI will allow elites to accelerate that accumulation and have less use for people. "Who cares if you go on strike? I don't need you."

Having open source AI can turn the tables: "Who cares if you raised the price? I'll make it myself."