- Jonathan Green on Zion will have data centers: “Stephen, yes, we’ve got some exciting new ways to discover new things. Not long ago I experimented with asking a local model to do a basic bit of textual comparison that I could have done by myself in about an hour. I was expecting the AI to take a few minutes for the sake of my feelings, but it started spitting out the answer – a pretty good answer – in maybe 5 seconds. That might mean a lot of my field gets reduced to data entry. And I also agree very much with DaveW – making sure everyone can benefit is important, and that’s not a problem that AI will solve by itself. That includes access, and sharing the economic benefits and economic burden. One mitigating factor is that this time the blue collar professions are reaping a lot of the benefits while it’s knowledge workers getting rendered obsolete. Kent, those are reasonable questions. I’m a lot less concerned about training data ever since Anthropic lost its lawsuit and now gets to pay me for using illicit copies of my two books as training data. Even after Anthropic pays my publisher and the law firm, the amount I get will triple my previous lifetime earnings from my academic publications. We publish academic books to disseminate knowledge, so having my work used to train Claude seems like a good thing; if I get paid for it, even better. (Anthropic: You have until December 31st for the check to clear, or I’m changing my mind about this.) It’s quite reasonable to wonder what the point of AI is outside of tech fields. It’s taken me a while to figure out. I opened an OpenAI account back in the GPT-3 days, typed a few questions, and lost interest. It was a toy. Local models know nearly nothing about my subfield. But things changed once I moved past the “Ask AI” stage. Give a model the capability to consult web sites or search online databases, and suddenly you have a rigorously logical assistant with a great deal of knowledge about your subfield. Use the model in combination with a good programming harness, and the model can now create custom tools for your current specific need to help you get past whatever is blocking a research project. It enables this incredible new sense of dialogue as you keep the human side of the project in focus, while the AI deals with technical details that you don’t have time to learn.” Nov 12, 12:14
- on Zion will have data centers: “Hmmm, are there relevant parts of Elder Gong’s BYU devotional earlier this year? Or from the Pope’s Magnifica Humanitas? In addition to the concern over the power requirements of AI data centers, the concern over the less than completely ethical means for obtaining its base data and the concern that we might over-rely on AI assistants, forgetting how to do basic things to get by in life seem like they have at least an element of validity. Given that we seem to have AI wether we want it or not, or actually have uses for it (I’m struggling to find ways for it to be useful for me), I’d love more thought about what are good and wise uses for it—ways that will holistically help me, instead of just another convenience. I grant your points, but I remain quite skeptical, especially given the amazingly stupid uses of AI — uses where no thought is given about whether AI can actually give meaningful and useful help. Why would you ask AI for something that it doesn’t know? Why would you expect AI to give results when its underlying data doesn’t include the results you want?” Nov 12, 11:33
- on Announcing B. H. Roberts: Warhorse of the Church, A Beginner’s Guide: “One question (and it’s what you might expect coming from me): Did you cover Roberts’ fiction and poetry? i.e, his efforts to fight for the gospel through literary works?” Nov 12, 11:20
- on Zion will have data centers: “There are resource concerns about data centers consumption of power and water, and their generation of noise, heat and pollution. I agree that these can be managed. Building as many data centers as possible, as quickly as possible, isn’t the answer, but neither is never building another data center. The more pressing issue though is plowing ahead with a technology that could put tens of millions of Americans out of work without planning for that eventuality. The invention of a barrel making machine hit one small sector, and probably took decades to fully put the those hand making barrels out of work. (I am not a barrel making historian.) And yes, there has been a continuous process of new improvements in efficiency shaping the economy forever. But the speed with which AI may completely upend nearly all industries is on an entirely different scale. Forecasts for AI impacts over the next 10 years are all over the place. It might create tens of millions of jobs; it might eliminate tens of millions of jobs. But I have a hunch that in either scenario the costs will be mostly born by the poor, while the benefits will be mostly reaped by the wealthy. Jesus might build a data center, but I like to think that He would also make plans to ensure that rising tides lift *all* the boats.” Nov 12, 09:56
- on Zion will have data centers: “I can’t help but think that data centers are really just proxies for some other deep-seated AI-related anxieties. If I knew people who were in principle against data centers for environmental reasons but were very pro-AI otherwise I could be convinced, but they all seem to run together. But yes, to your LDS point, the glory of God is intelligence, so having more intelligence is a good thing. I thought certain sections of the math community were very immature about the OpenAI proofs. They’re supposedly in that field because you want to help discover more mathematical truth, so now we have more mathematical truth! You should be happy! Also, I think a lot of people whose sense of meaning was based on being the best at some intellectual field that’s AI-threatened (instead of, you know, being a child of God) are particularly freaking out right now. I should probably be more sympathetic, mourn with those that mourn and all that. If your sense of purpose was derived from being the best barrel maker and then somebody invents a factory that can beat you at quality and price for barrel making that just plain stinks, even if it was a little silly to existentially ground yourself in careerism. (Caveat that I’m not talking about the fiscal stresses from unemployment, that’s a whole other concern that I’m much more sympathetic to, but in the aggregate having a virtually free army of IQ 170 people as your personal assistants will lead to much more human flourishing than not having them).” Nov 12, 09:05
- on Announcing B. H. Roberts: Warhorse of the Church, A Beginner’s Guide: “Congratulations! The initial list sounds great, though I suspect J. Golden Kimball will outsell them all. I especially appreciate the women. I’m not a big reader of biographies, so you’ll know far better than I will what’s been done and where a “beginner’s guide”/”in their own words” would be useful. But people I’m curious about include all those early Pratts and/or Orsons, Hugh B. Brown, J. Reuben Clark (maybe not needed), James E. Talmage, John A. Widtsoe (to second Lion of the Lord and rogerdhansen), and Henry Eyring (to second rogerdhansen again, I think). Is it too soon for Hugh Nibley, Leonard Arrington, Lowell Bennion, or Eugene England? I really wish I had women to add. Sidney Rigdon could be interesting, but more controversial than I think you want since you’d have to grapple with his Missouri speeches and the succession. I’m sure it’s not at all what you have in mind, but I think there’s a crying need for a beginner’s guide/in his own words for Joseph Smith. Something that can replace Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith on the reading lists of bookish young members and the bookshelves of Institute Directors. It could be shorter than TPJS and really focus on his “greatest hits” outside of the standard works–but maybe include some D&C revelation revision histories where they’re interesting.” Nov 12, 08:09
- on Zion will have data centers: “The irony of creating a parody that claims Jesus wouldn’t build data centers and then posting it on an internet blog is like creating a video claiming Jesus wouldn’t be a content creator and then posting it on your YouTube channel.” Nov 12, 07:33
- on Female Veiling in Mormonism: “I don’t know if I’d say uninspired, RLD. I think it’s OK to let go of things that may have been inspired at the outset but are no longer useful in the present. And I think it’s OK to fashion the endowment in a way that speaks to the current culture–without compromising its core elements–even if it means letting go of some elements that were deeply meaningful to the ancients.” Nov 11, 19:43
- on Announcing B. H. Roberts: Warhorse of the Church, A Beginner’s Guide: “Or President Irving’s father.” Nov 11, 19:41
