Another view: humans breaking "world records" in competive sports - after injecting themselves with chemical enhancers or using advanced materials in their sport equipment - is that them or just them using stuff? The problem here is whether other competitors had the same advantage but does it matter in practical life? What if it were work competitiveness? What if it benefits in the short term but has adverse long term effects? These get into values and ethics!
This is a great extension — and I think you've hit on something important.
There are actually two separate questions here:
1. Does it count as "them" doing it?
2. Is it fair in a competitive context?
The sports example is interesting because we've already answered both questions differently depending on context. A prosthetic leg "counts" as running — but we still have separate Paralympic categories. The tool is real. The achievement is real. AND we acknowledge that competition might need different rules.
But here's what I keep coming back to: most of life isn't a zero-sum competition.
If someone writes a beautiful essay with AI, there isn't a finite number of "essay medals" they're stealing from pure human writers. If someone solves a problem at work with AI assistance, the problem is still solved.
The competitive framing makes us ask "is it fair?" But maybe the more interesting question is: "does it matter if no one's competing?"
You're right that this gets into values and ethics. That's exactly where I think we need to be.
Another view: humans breaking "world records" in competive sports - after injecting themselves with chemical enhancers or using advanced materials in their sport equipment - is that them or just them using stuff? The problem here is whether other competitors had the same advantage but does it matter in practical life? What if it were work competitiveness? What if it benefits in the short term but has adverse long term effects? These get into values and ethics!
This is a great extension — and I think you've hit on something important.
There are actually two separate questions here:
1. Does it count as "them" doing it?
2. Is it fair in a competitive context?
The sports example is interesting because we've already answered both questions differently depending on context. A prosthetic leg "counts" as running — but we still have separate Paralympic categories. The tool is real. The achievement is real. AND we acknowledge that competition might need different rules.
But here's what I keep coming back to: most of life isn't a zero-sum competition.
If someone writes a beautiful essay with AI, there isn't a finite number of "essay medals" they're stealing from pure human writers. If someone solves a problem at work with AI assistance, the problem is still solved.
The competitive framing makes us ask "is it fair?" But maybe the more interesting question is: "does it matter if no one's competing?"
You're right that this gets into values and ethics. That's exactly where I think we need to be.