6 ms·

Henry Kissinger and Eric Schmidt’s Big Treatise on AI Panned in Book Review

23 points by elsewhen 5y ago

Apocryphon 5y ago
Who asked for this collaboration?
- tehjoker 5y ago
  It's pretty gross. Can you imagine working on a book with Kissinger? Schmidt reveals a willingness to not only interact with but collaborate with world historic criminals.
  - jimbob45 5y ago
    World historic criminal? Kissinger seems undeserving of that title considering the age he worked in. Also fun fact, Kissinger was on Theranos’ board of directors.
    - version_five 5y ago
      Yeah the Theranos connection makes it very hard for me to accept his credibility in relation to any new technology.
    - bigbillheck 5y ago
      Have you heard about a little place called 'Cambodia'?
    - serf 5y ago
      > World historic criminal? Kissinger seems undeserving of that title considering the age he worked in. I'm not understanding the rationalization? I keep parsing the sentence as either 'He's too old to be a criminal.' , or 'He existed in an era that was horrible, so give him a pass.' I don't consider either rationalizations to be worth contemplation, honestly. I'm not sure if 'war criminal' is a title with expiration, nor do I think that such titles should be normalized by comparing it to some of the most tumultuous times in human history. The only other group of people that shrug off 'war criminal' titles as easily as Kissinger are US presidents; that feels telling to me. He has a long and storied history of being a horrible person , but being exceedingly successful at it.
      - leephillips 5y ago
        Indeed. There are a big handful of countries that he can’t travel to, as he is wanted by the authorities there either for questioning or arrest or possible prosecution.
        zug_zug 5y ago
        For those of us who are entirely unfamiliar could you give a source?
        leephillips 5y ago
        It’s not that hard to find this information. This is an opinion piece, but it’s a starting point: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2002-12-12-0212120100-story.html https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2002-12-12-021212...
bigmattystyles 5y ago
Just reminds me how much I miss reading Christopher Hitchens.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trial_of_Henry_Kissinger https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trial_of_Henry_Kissinger https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ant6tY-MOIk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ant6tY-MOIk
version_five 5y ago
It would be nice to see a real source. That said, I don't see a distinction between these kinds of works, that essentially address the author's made up version of what they think AI is, and futurism. It may be fun to read and hear about how our toilet will monitor our health and our robot butler will plan our day, but it's just pop culture musing, it's not grounded in anything to do with the actual technology.
- Apocryphon 5y ago
  I would prefer to read such a work from someone who specializes in that genre of pollyannaish woolgathering, such as Michio Kaku or Ray Kurzweil, instead of celebrity elites dabbling in it.
andyxor 5y ago
when Kissinger writes books on AI and Uber driver asks for AI stock recommendations it's time to go short on AI
- W-Stool 5y ago
  IBM's Watson would probably agree.
disconcision 5y ago
i came here for the answer to a question - why is henry kissinger, 97, writing a book about AI - which doesn't seem to be addressed in the article. was this book concept algorithmically generated? any insights?
reducesuffering 5y ago
Off-topic a bit: The word pan is far too overloaded as is: a metal cooking utensil, a camera going across, sorting gold from dirt, to conclude or end up (it panned out), to criticize sharply. Can't we use something else?
- leephillips 5y ago
  I would caution you not to look up “foot” if you don’t want to be further upset.
  - cratermoon 5y ago
    Definitely don't open up the dictionary to the entry for the word 'set'.
    - java-man 5y ago
      or "take"
- xkeysc0re 5y ago
  How about "double-plus-ungood"?
  - reilly3000 5y ago
    So orderly.
cwkoss 5y ago
Henry Kissinger is a war criminal. I wouldn't trust any of his advice on geopolitics, much less his opinions about AI. The only thing I take away from this news is that Eric Schmidt has an even weaker moral compass than I previously thought.
- lettergram 5y ago
  “Who controls the food supply controls the people; who controls the energy can control whole continents; who controls money can control the world” — Henry Kissinger
  - eplanit 5y ago
    Saying harsh but true things makes him a war criminal?
    - refulgentis 5y ago
      No
    - typeformer 5y ago
      No, masterminding the illegal bombing of two countries (Loas and Cambodia during the Vietnam/American War) with horrendous long term outcomes for the civilian population and also plotting coups and unconditional support for brutal dictatorships that kill their own citizens with impunity makes you one.
      - eplanit 5y ago
        Yes Vietnam was a shitshow -- but it was Nixon who was the chief executive who decided what to do. I have no love for Kissinger, but his job was giving advice (no matter how cold) on how to win the absurd war. My point is, of all the players in that saga, Kissinger seems to get a greater portion of disdain.
        cwkoss 5y ago
baybal2 5y ago
> Henry Kissinger, age 97, Wow, the guy is still alive. I though he kicked the bucket long ago.
eunos 5y ago
Interesting considering that I remember reading that Kissinger didn't know much about AI until last year or so.
troelsSteegin 5y ago
I'd look instead at the Atlantic article [0] that is the germ of of the book. The authors, also including Dan Huttenlocher of MIT, opine that this AI era is potentially as big as the Enlightenment era. Thinking will not be the same. The tone, for lack of a sophisticated term, is woo-woo meta. These are smart experienced people who I would assume would be making a conscientious effort to make an important point. But, it's lost on me. And, I too am skeptical of Kissinger and of Schmidt. Personally, I think when we look back on the period, the story will be about our tragic inaction on climate. Hopefully there will be a heroic coda to that. By comparison, AI will be just another mode of industrial automation. [0] https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/08/henry-kissinger-the-metamorphosis-ai/592771/ https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/08/henry-k...
- wrycoder 5y ago
  https://www.drroyspencer.com/2021/08/uah-global-temperature-update-for-july-2021-0-20-deg-c/ https://www.drroyspencer.com/2021/08/uah-global-temperature-...
rdw 5y ago
Is this some sort of six-degrees thing where Eric Schmidt wanted to co-author a book with Kissinger (or the other way around) for the prestige? And then they paid Huttenlocher to actually write it?

23 points by elsewhen 5y ago

Apocryphon 5y ago

Who asked for this collaboration?

tehjoker 5y ago
It's pretty gross. Can you imagine working on a book with Kissinger? Schmidt reveals a willingness to not only interact with but collaborate with world historic criminals.
- jimbob45 5y ago
  World historic criminal? Kissinger seems undeserving of that title considering the age he worked in. Also fun fact, Kissinger was on Theranos’ board of directors.
  - version_five 5y ago
    Yeah the Theranos connection makes it very hard for me to accept his credibility in relation to any new technology.
  - bigbillheck 5y ago
    Have you heard about a little place called 'Cambodia'?
  - serf 5y ago
    > World historic criminal? Kissinger seems undeserving of that title considering the age he worked in. I'm not understanding the rationalization? I keep parsing the sentence as either 'He's too old to be a criminal.' , or 'He existed in an era that was horrible, so give him a pass.' I don't consider either rationalizations to be worth contemplation, honestly. I'm not sure if 'war criminal' is a title with expiration, nor do I think that such titles should be normalized by comparing it to some of the most tumultuous times in human history. The only other group of people that shrug off 'war criminal' titles as easily as Kissinger are US presidents; that feels telling to me. He has a long and storied history of being a horrible person , but being exceedingly successful at it.
    - leephillips 5y ago
      Indeed. There are a big handful of countries that he can’t travel to, as he is wanted by the authorities there either for questioning or arrest or possible prosecution.
      - zug_zug 5y ago
        For those of us who are entirely unfamiliar could you give a source?
        leephillips 5y ago
        It’s not that hard to find this information. This is an opinion piece, but it’s a starting point: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2002-12-12-0212120100-story.html https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2002-12-12-021212...

bigmattystyles 5y ago

Just reminds me how much I miss reading Christopher Hitchens.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trial_of_Henry_Kissinger https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trial_of_Henry_Kissinger https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ant6tY-MOIk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ant6tY-MOIk

version_five 5y ago

It would be nice to see a real source. That said, I don't see a distinction between these kinds of works, that essentially address the author's made up version of what they think AI is, and futurism. It may be fun to read and hear about how our toilet will monitor our health and our robot butler will plan our day, but it's just pop culture musing, it's not grounded in anything to do with the actual technology.

Apocryphon 5y ago
I would prefer to read such a work from someone who specializes in that genre of pollyannaish woolgathering, such as Michio Kaku or Ray Kurzweil, instead of celebrity elites dabbling in it.

andyxor 5y ago

when Kissinger writes books on AI and Uber driver asks for AI stock recommendations it's time to go short on AI

W-Stool 5y ago
IBM's Watson would probably agree.

disconcision 5y ago

i came here for the answer to a question - why is henry kissinger, 97, writing a book about AI - which doesn't seem to be addressed in the article. was this book concept algorithmically generated? any insights?

reducesuffering 5y ago

Off-topic a bit: The word pan is far too overloaded as is: a metal cooking utensil, a camera going across, sorting gold from dirt, to conclude or end up (it panned out), to criticize sharply. Can't we use something else?

leephillips 5y ago
I would caution you not to look up “foot” if you don’t want to be further upset.
- cratermoon 5y ago
  Definitely don't open up the dictionary to the entry for the word 'set'.
  - java-man 5y ago
    or "take"
xkeysc0re 5y ago
How about "double-plus-ungood"?
- reilly3000 5y ago
  So orderly.

cwkoss 5y ago

Henry Kissinger is a war criminal. I wouldn't trust any of his advice on geopolitics, much less his opinions about AI. The only thing I take away from this news is that Eric Schmidt has an even weaker moral compass than I previously thought.

lettergram 5y ago
“Who controls the food supply controls the people; who controls the energy can control whole continents; who controls money can control the world” — Henry Kissinger
- eplanit 5y ago
  Saying harsh but true things makes him a war criminal?
  - refulgentis 5y ago
    No
  - typeformer 5y ago
    No, masterminding the illegal bombing of two countries (Loas and Cambodia during the Vietnam/American War) with horrendous long term outcomes for the civilian population and also plotting coups and unconditional support for brutal dictatorships that kill their own citizens with impunity makes you one.
    - eplanit 5y ago
      Yes Vietnam was a shitshow -- but it was Nixon who was the chief executive who decided what to do. I have no love for Kissinger, but his job was giving advice (no matter how cold) on how to win the absurd war. My point is, of all the players in that saga, Kissinger seems to get a greater portion of disdain.
      - cwkoss 5y ago

baybal2 5y ago

> Henry Kissinger, age 97, Wow, the guy is still alive. I though he kicked the bucket long ago.

eunos 5y ago

Interesting considering that I remember reading that Kissinger didn't know much about AI until last year or so.

troelsSteegin 5y ago

I'd look instead at the Atlantic article [0] that is the germ of of the book. The authors, also including Dan Huttenlocher of MIT, opine that this AI era is potentially as big as the Enlightenment era. Thinking will not be the same. The tone, for lack of a sophisticated term, is woo-woo meta. These are smart experienced people who I would assume would be making a conscientious effort to make an important point. But, it's lost on me. And, I too am skeptical of Kissinger and of Schmidt. Personally, I think when we look back on the period, the story will be about our tragic inaction on climate. Hopefully there will be a heroic coda to that. By comparison, AI will be just another mode of industrial automation. [0] https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/08/henry-kissinger-the-metamorphosis-ai/592771/ https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/08/henry-k...

wrycoder 5y ago
https://www.drroyspencer.com/2021/08/uah-global-temperature-update-for-july-2021-0-20-deg-c/ https://www.drroyspencer.com/2021/08/uah-global-temperature-...

rdw 5y ago

Is this some sort of six-degrees thing where Eric Schmidt wanted to co-author a book with Kissinger (or the other way around) for the prestige? And then they paid Huttenlocher to actually write it?