Along the lines of your artist example, I find the instrument case to be a nice intuition pump.
An instrument is a technology that is deeply empowering! The human vocal range can simulate a vast range of sounds, but it’s very hard to do so and composing with just your voice (in the way one can having played/access to a piano) is I imagine impossible.
Another important facet of this example is that directly working with waveforms via a programming language or even with an interface, e.g. of a DAW, is universal but not empowering in the same way!
I think of this example as one of a broader range in which the interface is optimized for rich human interaction. One can imagine that in certain worlds interfaces become increasingly optimized for AI interaction. For example, future AIs likely will likely disprefer GUIs etc.
Formalizing what is meant by good vs bad interfaces may be another way to get useful notions of empowerment.
Along the lines of your artist example, I find the instrument case to be a nice intuition pump.
An instrument is a technology that is deeply empowering! The human vocal range can simulate a vast range of sounds, but it’s very hard to do so and composing with just your voice (in the way one can having played/access to a piano) is I imagine impossible.
Another important facet of this example is that directly working with waveforms via a programming language or even with an interface, e.g. of a DAW, is universal but not empowering in the same way!
I think of this example as one of a broader range in which the interface is optimized for rich human interaction. One can imagine that in certain worlds interfaces become increasingly optimized for AI interaction. For example, future AIs likely will likely disprefer GUIs etc.
Formalizing what is meant by good vs bad interfaces may be another way to get useful notions of empowerment.