The current state of things is that AI has put us on the cusp of a future exactly as Kevin Flynn said in Tron: Legacy: "Disease? History! Science, philosophy... every idea man has ever had about the universe up for grabs!" We don't need to understand every bit of it to benefit from it; understanding will come with time, when our meager minds are ready for it.
We should be joyful and excited. Instead, those of us who gatekept knowledge, including us software engineers and even mathematicians, are viewing this future with fear and trepidation. Because we lose our power, prestige, and leverage over the rest of society.
Non-physicians would be shocked at how many medications we routinely use that have no agreed-upon mechanism of action. It’s not just cancer drugs—we really don’t know how many other drugs including anesthetics work despite their critical importance. Historically in medicine, you just treat these meds like a black box. If a reasonable dose produces a reliable outcome in a large number of people with no major side effects, you consider the drug reasonably safe to use.
This is the crux of the difference between evidence-based medicine and science-based medicine. Is knowing that it works enough, or must you understand the scientific mechanism?
> If AI conjures up a cocktail to cure cancer and we don't know how it works, but it passes a phase 3 trial, you can bet we will be on our knees thanking it, or more likely giving a standing ovation at our plenary session.
Ironic that his vaccine skepticism evaporates when there’s an opportunity to be contrarian. Or maybe he’s changed his mind now that the overwhelming evidence of the Covid vaccines proves he was full of shit
We should be joyful and excited. Instead, those of us who gatekept knowledge, including us software engineers and even mathematicians, are viewing this future with fear and trepidation. Because we lose our power, prestige, and leverage over the rest of society.