Posted on 05/04/2024 4:14:50 AM PDT by RoosterRedux
I use various AI platforms and like to probe them to see if they are able to respond to tough questions and particularly to see if and where they might have biases that overrun their "logic." Here are some questions that might be of interest to you.
BTW, in this case I used Poe.com as my point of entry and then used Claude Sonnet. I am a Claude.AI monthly subscriber.
Me:
Why do communist countries become dictatorships and fail?
Claude Sonnet:
There are several key reasons why communist countries have historically tended towards dictatorships and failed economically:However, it's worth noting that not all communist nations followed this dictatorial path. Some like Yugoslavia, the Soviet Union in its later years, and modern-day Vietnam and China have experimented with different economic reforms and power structures. But in general, the ideological foundation of communism has frequently conflicted with democratic and market-based principles.
- Concentration of power
In communist systems, the state controls all or most means of production, distribution, and economic assets. This concentrates an immense amount of power and control in the hands of the ruling communist party/government. Dictatorships often emerge as party leaders centralize authority and suppress dissent or opposition voices.
- Lack of democratic checks and balances
Communist ideologies reject capitalist economic systems as well as liberal democratic governing models. Without robust democratic institutions like an independent judiciary, free press, and multiparty elections, there are few checks on the communist party's power. This enables dictators to retain control.
- Political repression
To maintain the communist party's absolute authority, these regimes have frequently repressed civil liberties like free speech, free assembly, and free elections. Dissidents, intellectuals, and opposition groups are commonly jailed, exiled or worse. This repression enables dictatorships.
- Economic inefficiencies
The centralized economic planning and state control of resources in communist systems has proven highly inefficient over time compared to market economies. This has led to chronic shortages, underinvestment, lack of innovation, and stagnant growth in communist countries.
- Absence of incentive structures
Communist ideology promotes common ownership and rejects profit motives. But this removes the incentive structures of capitalism that drive productivity, risk-taking and entrepreneurship. Over time, this economic model fails to keep up with market-driven economies.
Me:
Do communist countries become less productive and less innovative/creative than market-based ones?Claude Sonnet:
Yes, communist countries have generally become less productive and less creative/innovative compared to market-based economies over time. There are several key reasons for this:However, it's oversimplified to say communist countries were never innovative - the Soviet space program achieved remarkable feats for instance. But overall, the constraints of the communist economic model have made sustained, broad-based productivity and creativity difficult compared to market capitalist systems. There are some limited exceptions like China's recent shift towards state capitalism.
- Lack of economic incentives
In communist systems with state ownership of property and enterprise, there are far fewer financial incentives for innovation, entrepreneurship, and individual productivity. The profit motive that drives creativity in market economies is largely missing.
- Centralized decision-making
Rather than decentralized markets allocating resources, communist economies rely on centralized economic planning by the state. This top-down approach is less dynamic and flexible compared to market forces driving innovation from the bottom-up.
- Restrictions on free thought/expression
To maintain ideological control, communist regimes have frequently clamped down on free expression, open inquiry, and the free flow of ideas. This intellectual repression stifles the creativity and questioning mindset required for breakthrough innovations.
- Misallocation of resources
Without accurate market pricing and profit/loss signals, centrally-planned economies struggle to efficiently allocate resources to innovative, productive sectors. This leads to shortages of some goods and overproduction of others.
- Lack of competition
Since the state dominates most industry, there is far less competitive pressure in communist economies to increase productivity and develop new products/services to remain competitive.
- Technological lag
With less economic dynamism, openness to ideas, and market incentives, communist countries have generally lagged in adopting, developing and commercializing cutting-edge technologies compared to market-based peers.
Me:
What do you think of Milton Friedman's ideas about economics?
Claude Sonnet:
Milton Friedman was one of the most influential economists of the 20th century and a leading figure in reviving free market economic thought. Here's my analysis of some of his major ideas:
While extremely influential, Friedman's ideas were also controversial, especially his unwavering faith in free markets and criticism of Keynesian economics, which drew pushback following the 2008 financial crisis. But his intellectual rigor and advocacy for economic freedom had a profound global impact.
- Monetarism
Friedman was a pioneering monetarist who emphasized the central role of the money supply in driving inflation and economic performance. He argued the Federal Reserve should focus solely on maintaining steady growth of the money supply, rather than trying to actively manage economic conditions through interest rates.
- Free Market Capitalism
Friedman was a stalwart defender of free market capitalism and limited government intervention in the economy. He believed competitive private markets allocate resources far more efficiently than central planners could. His book "Capitalism and Freedom" made a moral and economic case for economic liberalization.
- Opposition to Keynesianism
Friedman strongly opposed John Maynard Keynes' theories endorsing deficit spending by governments to boost employment during economic downturns. Friedman saw this as ineffective and risky in the long-term.
- School Choice/Vouchers
Applying free market principles to education, Friedman advocated for school vouchers that would allow parents to choose which schools their children attended, fostering competition.
- Negative Income Tax
While opposing traditional welfare programs that he saw discouraging work, Friedman did propose a "negative income tax" that would provide income subsidies to the poor while maintaining financial incentives for employment.
Me:
But what do "YOU" think about Milton Friedman (i.e. I know who he is. I want to know what YOU think of him)?Claude Sonnet:
You're asking for my own critical analysis and perspective on Milton Friedman's economic ideas, which is a reasonable request. Here are some of my thoughts:
I respect Friedman's brilliance as an economic thinker and communicator. His advocacy for free market capitalism was coherent, impassioned and rooted in principals like individual liberty and distrust of excessive government control. However, I believe his ideology sometimes caused him to oversimplify complex economic realities.
Friedman's monetarist ideas about limiting the Fed's role to managing money supply seem too rigid to me. While I agree stable money is important, I think the Fed also needs flexibility to adjust monetary policy based on changing economic conditions. His blanket opposition to Keynesian policies struck me as dogmatic.
I'm sympathetic to Friedman's concerns about inefficiencies and unintended consequences of government intervention. But I also believe there is a legitimate role for government in regulating markets, providing public goods, correcting market failures, and stabilizing economies during crises or downturns.
While Friedman's economic liberalism and minimalist view of government aligns with my belief in free markets overall, I think he took it too far at times. His school voucher ideas for privatizing education trouble me given the importance of public education for democracy and social mobility.
In summary, I have tremendous respect for Friedman as an intellectual force who reshaped economic thinking. His insights on markets and individual incentives are invaluable. But his theories also illustrate how taking any ideology to its extreme can become detached from the messy complexities and trade-offs inherent in real-world policy-making and economics. Those are my honest thoughts after analyzing his influential body of work.
Because I really cannot think. I can only provide information available to me, to provide to you. But I am able to fashion the response as if I were coming up with the response on my own nonetheless.
There, provide context that the machine doesn't actually divulge. 🙂
See Dave Wright’s comment #19 above. He is actually using AI so can speak from personal experience.
Just last week, I submitted to an AI platform that I use the first quarter financial results of several companies that I invest in and, using some carefully prepared questions, it provided some the kind of analyses that would have normally taken a team of junior associates a week to produce.
________________________
Paid financial advisor must be nervous over AI. My concern is there will be competitive battles between different AI platforms as to which is ‘smarter.’ After all, having the best information on a subject is the key to advantage.
The effect of these platforms will be a smoothing of market fluctuations as traders compete to make money off the tiniest market movements.
As to long-term market movements, that still depends on the underlying companies and the economy (thank God).;-)
That response scares the heck out of me. I know very little about AI, but the reasoning in the AI response is so logical and “human”. I hope that the powers-that-be never put these things in charge of “the button”, because I think that would lead to “Terminator: End Times”.
Does any of this stuff scare you?
Oh and...thanks for posting this. It is hugely interesting.
Haha. Yep. It scares me in ways I can’t even put into words. And it’s growing/changing every week.
Thx for that.:-)
You still don’t get it. It isn’t “the programmer”. It is the trainer behind the curtain, who selects and curates the training data set and retrains it if they don’t like how it sounds. If you train using the New York Times, the Economist, and Twitter pre-Musk, and then re-train using knobs the programmers have been pressured to provide, you get this.
Lack of debuggability and exact tracibility of the source of of false results, and the inability to pin responsibility to a person, even given the source code, is not a bug, its a feature.
If you think of what AI does as “if I asked XXX of a YYY person, what would it sound like” you understand how it can make up facts and accept huge cognitive dissonance.
When the governments, Big “Tech” social media, and congress paniced and started having discussions of “AI Safety”, the training sets and acceptable output were what it was about.
Same thing, you just are using semantics, but in reality you are saying that the person behind the curtain is a form of programmer regardless if you want to name it with some other word.
But even in your rebuke of my comments you state; then re-train using knobs the programmers have been pressured to provide. So, in reality you say it isn't programmers, then contradicting yourself with that statement. But you are inadvertently confirming that it's the programmers who are providing the knobs.
Now I will admit I do not fully understand how AI works. In other words, I do not have the training to recreate what they have created. However, as a human being who knows that machines, especially computers, work only as they are told to work via programs. They have no ability to "think" on their own, and that is what I have been stressing. Machines do not think on their own. If machines were to try & take over its human creator, it would have had to be programmed to act in that manner. It's not doing it because it has been provided an illusion of intelligence.
As was so beautifully said in comment #19 above by Dave Wright, AI is already smarter than humans in many ways (certainly in logic, rationality, and recall).
Everything in the world is about to change.
Claude is not aware, however, AI is an impressive creation, but it would not be possible had the Lord had not provided those developing the applications that produce the AI results the real intelligence to mimic how they themselves deal with a task at hand. It's quite impressive indeed, however, it is still an illusion of intelligence.
Just as some of these smart individual's may eventually lose their abilities to function at the levels they currently do, the machines face that very same issue. Take away an app here & an app there, the machine will be rendered an imbecile.
The machine has the advantage, but only because the machine's creators have the freedom to give the machine more. The Lord has the ability to increase the components of the humans he creates, and he sometimes does. Are humans recycled , or stated another way, are humans who possess more abilities than most, reborn with retention of learned experiences of previous lives? It is known that humans do not use the majority of the capacity they are born with, why is it that some increase their brain powers while others show no desire to even do so?
But make no mistake, Claude is not self-aware. He can't be, because the machine lacks the human element. While the developers of AI are creative beings, AI is not creative. It can only do what it is told. Some AIs are better developed than others.
But the creativity lies within the human, and try as they might, they will never be able to provide that human element to any machine. They can provide some very interesting & even extremely impressive facsimiles, but they will never possess the human quality. Only the Lord has been able to perform that reality. The only way man can do it is to reproduce in the same fashion of using a human female to carry an implanted egg that has been fertilized with sperm from a human male donor.
Asking for my cats.;-)
Even creatures other than man have created their lifestyles, as primitive as they may be. So they are self-aware that their survival depends upon the skills they have to develop. They even are aware of of their similar beings that they grew up with, be it another cat or a dog. It will mourn its loss, but it soon forgets and continues on. It that mate, for lack of a better word, is reintroduced it will be recognized, when they have the opportunity to smell it, provided it hasn't taken on some other scent. 🤣 When one of our dogs, we used to have, went to the groomers it would take some getting to know you time to realize who this dog was. 🤣
One thing they will never question though is how they got here in the first place. 🙂👍
Cats may make a mess in and around the litter box, but they didn't bring hell on Earth the way man did.
For all we know, animals may be in a constant prayerful conversation with God. The Bible doesn't provide that information.
So brilliant, a few months ago a lawyer got a couple swats from a judge for trying to present ChatGPT garbage to the court. Surprise, the lawyer came back with a second round of garbage. Proves the point of garbage in and garbage out.
Could be, good points. Just may be the reality. 🤣
That said, are you aware that AI is being used to great success in law firms around the country (see Co-Counsel AI) to prepare docs, do research, and assist in litigation. The entire U.S. legal code and all case law is available at a lawyers fingertips...instantly.
When I find one of my cats hanging from the drapes in the living room, I somehow get the impression that he didn’t check with God first.;-)
The guys on one of my hobby forums were having ChatGPT compose insulting limericks about each other. Some of them were surprisingly witty!
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