cross-posted from: https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/post/46082903
In fairness, the argument that AI is a cult/false religion/false god has been made many times before, however I believe that AI and the AI community most closely aligns with a cult, and here’s why:
Indoctrination techniques:
Generally, techniques that indoctrinate users into the cult tend to follow similar trends, which are notable in many of the AI models having similar effects on the users who subsequently become frequent users of the technology. Broken down, I’d say it’s something like this:
-Innocuous beginnings: Cults are notorious for beginning the indoctrination process with something simple and seemingly harmless on the surface (I.e. conferences, videos, films, games, etc.) these are all real techniques that various cults have used in the past, to somewhat success. Likewise, AI chatbots, image and video generators present just this: an invitation to engage with something fun and seemingly harmless, something that engages the audience and draws their attention.
-Love bombing: Perhaps the most notorious hook of cults is love bombing — giving heaps of praise and complements to the joining members. Likewise, AI chatbots constantly tell you how good your point is or how you’re always on the right track (“you’ve hit the nail on the head”, “that is an amazing point” are but a few I have read of Gemini) This is undoubtedly a form of love bombing.
-Promise of more: Cults often work by enticing their audience with something good, but promising something great (something better) later. Likewise, AI tech companies are always promising more, more, more if you subscribe/follow their work. What better reward for AI users can there be but the promise of bigger and better AI? This is exactly how both cults and AI operate.
Beyond the indoctrination similarities, there are also many, many peripheral similarities (by which I mean subtle, not less important similarities) which include:
-reach and scope: historical cults have often managed to expand their reach across multiple countries around the world. Need I explain how this is similar to the reach and scope of AI?
-withholding/hiding information
-leaders who turn out to be crooks/criminals
-leaders who amass fortunes
And many more.
What do you think? Are the similarities superficial, or could AI actually be a worldwide cult hidden in plain sight?
Not to contradict, but to add: I think tech companies have had cult-like qualities a lot longer. People were unironically saying that Steve Jobs carried a reality distortion field with him. And every shitty start up has its own t-shirt and its table kicker that it never uses.
Yeah but has anything as big as AI happened in the history of the world? Besides possibly the invention of computers themselves (except not even that, because how many people had access to computers then in comparison to now including handheld computers like modern mobile phones) what other technological advance has generated such fever and gripped almost every nation, got every headline talking and all eyes down on screens in one way or another?
The Dutch Tulip Mania of 1637 comes to my mind.
The first railways, electrical lighting, and the first planes were impactful, and railways had a speculative hype time, but it was little doubt that all these would be useful.
Another hype that was NOT useful were Radium-based things like watches, pills, toothpaste and so on.
Ok, I mean that’s not really a technological advance example, but sure ig
The discovery of Radium by Marie Curie was without question a big scientific breakthrough, and it was thought to lead rapidly to technical advances and medical applications - but that ended in all kinds of snake oil and quackery, exploited by all kind of grifters.
Good example. That possibly is the best parallel to AI: a rapidly emerging technology that spread across the world, with the promise to do some good, only to do probably more harm than good in the end.