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aspenmartinlast Tuesday at 4:54 PM2 repliesview on HN

Depends, is the net improvement of the internet, electricity, agriculture, steam engine also in the room?


Replies

nancyminusonelast Tuesday at 5:06 PM

Asbestos is the miracle material it is advertised as. It really is great insulation, and really is absolutely fireproof. Thousands of industrial uses are readily apparent.

Despite this, because of its other effects, the cost to clean up and stop using asbestos is greater than the sum total of any benefit from all mined asbestos worldwide.

Even a miracle technology can still be a net disaster.

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gensymlast Tuesday at 5:13 PM

I don't understand that this argument. Why does the net improvement of the technologies listed imply that AI will also have a net improvement? Are you just arguing that there's no such thing as technology that is harmful on net?