*** The AI Thread *** Risks, Threats, Political Action

[Psamathe]

Sunak's attempts to elbow in to "be the answer" to the unknown AI risks seems to me totally daft. He's expounding his opinions but what does he know about it? How much can he appreciate? It's an amazingly complex subject and Sunak has no knowledge, no experience, no training, etc. and at best might have found a few minutes to skim over a briefing peper yet he feels qualified to decide that his "light touch" and decision "not to rush to regulate." (https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/ ... tober-2023) - based on what

Could the UK ever become a respected regulator or decision maker? Just hosting a conference (incl. the world's billionaires) hardly makes Sunak's personal view relevant. US has userped the UK by announcing it's own AI Safety Institute (and can anybody see the UK elbowing the US out from somewhere?).

To me, if AI is a risk or danger than it is such that it's beyond politicians to take adequate action to protect us. Particularly the caliber of politicians the UK is currently suffering.

Ian

[Tangled Metal]

Does any political leader know what they talk about? Don't they have civil service to provide the information and advisers to advise on political side of such information? I believe the system we operate is an executive system with advice from a knowledgeable civil service.

So I think it's not right to question what he knows but what he was told by the civil service and how he used that info.

[Nearholmer]

He’s there to lead, not know or do everything.

Part of the job of a leader is to identify ‘the big issues’, and get people together to decide what to do about them, and another part can be to identify key objectives, and shape opinion and resources to attain the objectives.

To me, AI fits the ‘big issue’ bill, and it’s about time it was addressed, issues discussed, objectives set, and work to attain the objectives set in train, which is bound to be bl@@dy challenging, because it’s global, outside of the control of individual governments and present inter-governmental mechanisms, promises to make some people stupendously wealthy, offers huge opportunities, yet also has the potential to turn out terminally badly for all of us.

So, at that level, all good.

But, I do have my doubts about whether this is a case of “cometh the hour, cometh the man”, which I’m sure he’d like us all to think it is, or a case of “cometh the opportunity; cometh the opportunist”.

Everything I’ve heard from him suggests that he’s got pound-note signs rolling in front of his eyes, and sees AI as the way out of the mess Britain is in, rather than that he’s had a really, serious deep think about it, listened hard to the deepest thinkers and wisest counsels he can find, and set out on this motivated primarily by “the good of humankind”. A whiff of politicking, rather than statesmanship, in short. Good distraction from his bizarrely petty-politicking approach to climate change too, but that in itself sets warning bells clanging.

Maybe Joe Biden said “here, you’d better take this one, I’m busy with other stuff”.

Anyway, the really important point is that it’s crawling with heavily armed police round here, and half the roads are closed.

[djnotts]

But nice Mr Musk says no-one will need to work and all will be wealthy. Wonder if that idyllic time will coincide with the extermination of mankind which he also mentions. I suppose the last few '00s alive WILL be very rich.
AI will not end well IMO.

[al_yrpal]

Careful....AI naysayers could well be on the AI exterminators list

It would be interesting to know who the OP thinks should set up a conference and lead the worldwide discussion?

Al

[djnotts]

Careful....AI naysayers could well be on the AI exterminators list ..........

Al

Yeah, but... there'll be a manual on/off switch! "Damn, can't reach it. ....."

As the song says, "that's when I reach for my revolver". Might as well get it over with, think I'd rather be a naysayer than an apologist.

Quite amusing watching politicians trying to appear relevant in an issue which they do not understand and which they cannot influence.

[Psamathe]

Quite funny with Musk showing his lack of original thinking by using a poor summary of the ideas of Iain M Banks and "The Culture" novels. Of course Musk tried to pass the ideas of as his own thinking, but some time back he had made the world aware that he known them well (when SpaceX landing barges used the names of spaceships from the same Iain M Banks novels).

And added amusement from Sunak totally inthrall of Musk's presence.

Ian

[Psamathe]

...
It would be interesting to know who the OP thinks should set up a conference and lead the worldwide discussion?
...

Somebody who understands the issues involved and in not just looking to play politics and raise profiles with photo-ops.

UK does not have the infrastructure to become a big player in this field so will likely always be on the sidelines. US somewhat usurped the UK trying to elbow in to something by announcing its AI Safety Institute before the conference even started.

Maybe some international body would be more appropriate?

Ian

[VinceLedge]

I suspect it might be a Sunak attempt to do something positive that can deflect from all the stuff hitting the government currently.

[Nearholmer]

Maybe some international body would be more appropriate?

It 100% needs an international body, and probably one with teeth eventually, but look how well that’s going with climate change, nuclear weapon proliferation, and with multiple sets of people across the globe who are intent on having vicious and potentially escalatory wars; even the pandemic didn’t exactly go splendidly on a global cooperation front.

One of the most gigantic disappointments of our times is the fact that we’ve got ourselves to a place where there are multiple huge, genuinely global, issues in front of us, but we seem pathologically incapable of effective cooperation to deal with them on the grand scale. Instead, the response of the human race seems to be to squabble more, not less, and head like flies to a dung hill in the direction of demagogic leaders touting simplistic and illusory answers.

Not that I’m grumpy at all today.

[reohn2]

Careful....AI naysayers could well be on the AI exterminators list ..........

Al

Yeah, but... there'll be a manual on/off switch! "Damn, can't reach it. ....."

It'll be "hidden" in the menus... ...question being who or what hid it?

[Mike Sales]

Careful....AI naysayers could well be on the AI exterminators list ..........

Al

Yeah, but... there'll be a manual on/off switch! "Damn, can't reach it. ....."

It'll be "hidden" in the menus... ...question being who or what hid it?

Can't you just pull out the plug?

[reohn2]

Maybe some international body would be more appropriate?

It 100% needs an international body, and probably one with teeth eventually, but look how well that’s going with climate change, nuclear weapon proliferation, and with multiple sets of people across the globe who are intent on having vicious and potentially escalatory wars; even the pandemic didn’t exactly go splendidly on a global cooperation front.

One of the most gigantic disappointments of our times is the fact that we’ve got ourselves to a place where there are multiple huge, genuinely global, issues in front of us, but we seem pathologically incapable of effective cooperation to deal with them on the grand scale. Instead, the response of the human race seems to be to squabble more, not less, and head like flies to a dung hill in the direction of demagogic leaders touting simplistic and illusory answers.

Not that I’m grumpy at all today.

Spot on!

[reohn2]

Yeah, but... there'll be a manual on/off switch! "Damn, can't reach it. ....."

It'll be "hidden" in the menus... ...question being who or what hid it?

Can't you just pull out the plug?

At some point no.
Which is worrying prospect.
AI learns faster than humans think!
Think about it.

We,the ordinary people are being shafted left right and centre by the very people who should be working for us,when the machine self realises and takes the politrickians along for the ride the rest of us are collateral damage just like the Palestinians are currently.
I don't trust politicians and I don't trust what AI could be capable of.


Signed
A Naysayer

[Psamathe]

It'll be "hidden" in the menus... ...question being who or what hid it?

Can't you just pull out the plug?

At some point no.
Which is worrying prospect.
AI learns faster than humans think!
Think about it.
...

"Pulling the Plug" is an interesting idea and could be done but maybe with limited impact. Something humanity has demonstrated repeatedly yet not learnt from is that "un-inventing" something is nigh-on impossible. So a mainstream state uses AI to develop some horrendous biological weapon because "it needs to defend itself". You can pull the plug as often as you like but that state still knows how to make that biological weapon.

Also, I see one of the current dangers from AI as the ability to create vast quantities of very credible sounding misinformation on the internet. And that can mean election outcomes changed because of non-existing untruths that because widely accepted. Or medical crises because of widespread misinformation about risks of a safe preventative treatment. etc., etc. Once the idea is "out-there" it self perpetuates even with "the plug pulled".

Ian