2 ms·

I don't think the problem is super-intelligent AI that we can't turn off (because they are so intelligent that they block our efforts). There is a more insidiou

I don't think the problem is super-intelligent AI that we can't turn off (because they are so intelligent that they block our efforts). There is a more insidious problem that is closer: Merely intelligent AI that we don't want to turn off. We are becoming more and more reliant on AI in situations that formerly required human judgement. And we like the systems that rely on such AI. We like them so much that these systems become very popular, used by millions and even billions of people. Scalability demands AI solutions. What if we don't like what the AI is doing? Do we turn off that system? Do we disable the AI and rely on human judgement again? (Where would we get all the employees?) Do we tweak the AI? That last option seems like the most palatable one, but each time we tweak the AI, we are subjecting ourselves to new unforeseen consequences. It's like the genie gives us three wishes, we get through them, disappointed each time, and then he gives us more wishes. And all we can do is not repeat our previous mistakes, while we make new ones. To make this concrete: Imagine Facebook subjected again to Russian influence of US elections. Suppose Facebook actually does get serious about reigning in this influence. They deploy AI to do so. First of all, it's an evolutionary arms race between the AI and the Russian influencers. Second, we really do have to worry about the AI producing bad results.

SolaceQuantum 7y ago
I feel the situation is generally the opposite. We don't like systems that rely on such AI. In fact, there aren't systems that rely on such AI in general- any that claim there are are in fact tens of thousands of human contractors sacrificing their psychological health to train an AI that still kinda sucks at deciding when to block graphic content on facebook.
- geophile 7y ago
  I agree. But the discussion is about where AI is heading. And AI undeniably solves some scaling problems. For example, voice recognition for iPhones could have been done by a large horde of people. But AI does a really good job of it now. AI opporunities are likely to grow over time.

SolaceQuantum 7y ago

I feel the situation is generally the opposite. We don't like systems that rely on such AI. In fact, there aren't systems that rely on such AI in general- any that claim there are are in fact tens of thousands of human contractors sacrificing their psychological health to train an AI that still kinda sucks at deciding when to block graphic content on facebook.

geophile 7y ago
I agree. But the discussion is about where AI is heading. And AI undeniably solves some scaling problems. For example, voice recognition for iPhones could have been done by a large horde of people. But AI does a really good job of it now. AI opporunities are likely to grow over time.