It seems to me that there is an important distinction here between “the thing that replaces human cognitive labor” and “the thing that automates human cognitive labor”. For example, a toaster might eliminate the need for human cognitive labor or replace it with a non-cognitive task that accomplishes the same goal, but it does not automate that labor. A machine that automates the cognitive labor normally involved in toasting bread over a fire would need to make decisions about where to hold the bread, when to turn it, and when it is finished toasting, by having access to information about how the bread is doing, how hot the fire is, etc. Or maybe people are using these phrases differently than I am expecting?
I was also a little confused about the post’s initial claim:
Sometimes we think of ‘artificial intelligence’ as whatever technology ultimately automates human cognitive labor.
Maybe I haven’t encountered thoughts like that much, or I’ve been reading too much David Chapman, but my immediate thought after reading the above was something like ‘most human cognitive labor isn’t automated by technology but obviated, usually by engineering the relevant environment’.
It seems to me that there is an important distinction here between “the thing that replaces human cognitive labor” and “the thing that automates human cognitive labor”. For example, a toaster might eliminate the need for human cognitive labor or replace it with a non-cognitive task that accomplishes the same goal, but it does not automate that labor. A machine that automates the cognitive labor normally involved in toasting bread over a fire would need to make decisions about where to hold the bread, when to turn it, and when it is finished toasting, by having access to information about how the bread is doing, how hot the fire is, etc. Or maybe people are using these phrases differently than I am expecting?
I was also a little confused about the post’s initial claim:
Maybe I haven’t encountered thoughts like that much, or I’ve been reading too much David Chapman, but my immediate thought after reading the above was something like ‘most human cognitive labor isn’t automated by technology but obviated, usually by engineering the relevant environment’.