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I've always strongly disagreed with this particular threat model of AI safety. To me, the biggest threat of AI isn't autogenerated spammy fake news or social m

I've always strongly disagreed with this particular threat model of AI safety. To me, the biggest threat of AI isn't autogenerated spammy fake news or social media posts (how much cheaper is it really than just hiring a 5-cent army to do that? Aren't there diminishing returns for doing this too much? Since this is basically inevitable isn't it a better idea to teach people not to believe stuff they read from unreliable strangers on the internet?). Rather the biggest threat is centralization, where a single corporation (e.g. Microsoft, Google, Facebook, a single government agency) controls the AI, censors/limits it in places that are inconvenient to it and its profits, snoops on all communications with no regard for privacy, etc. OpenAI already does this, and they're quite clear and open about it. And what I'm REALLY concerned about is AI companies like OpenAI building a cutting-edge AI, then lobbying governments to prevent anybody else from building one freely for the sake of "safety". AI safety researchers hired by AI companies have a clear conflict of interest here. I think that the ONLY way to make sure AI is safe is if it has 100% transparency, i.e. open source and freely available models that anybody can run and test themselves.

JohnPrine 5y ago
I strongly disagree with you. We have no idea how to align a superintelligence to act for the benefit of humanity. Your plan would only cause faster and faster advances in AI tech without corresponding advances in AI safety research which would be catastrophic
- harpersealtako 5y ago
  To me the chance of a future superintelligent AI being "catastrophic" is pretty much unknowable (we don't even have a concrete idea of how a superintelligent AI would even work yet!). It could be 99.999%, it could be 0.0001%. Whereas the chance of a superintelligent AI created by a company being harnessed for personal profits, and that company attempting to maximize its profits by shutting down any competition, potentially by "raising awareness of AI safety concerns", is quite high simply based on our modern understanding of how large, powerful companies operate. And a single company with a monopoly on AI, in sole possession of AI (which you clearly agree can be dangerous) seems even more dangerous.
  - focom 5y ago
    I agree you pinpointed the real issue. People working on AI ethics are more often than not gate keeper to make sure AI is in the hand of the few. They also want AI to follow the leading moral of the day - Western liberal ideas

JohnPrine 5y ago

I strongly disagree with you. We have no idea how to align a superintelligence to act for the benefit of humanity. Your plan would only cause faster and faster advances in AI tech without corresponding advances in AI safety research which would be catastrophic

harpersealtako 5y ago
To me the chance of a future superintelligent AI being "catastrophic" is pretty much unknowable (we don't even have a concrete idea of how a superintelligent AI would even work yet!). It could be 99.999%, it could be 0.0001%. Whereas the chance of a superintelligent AI created by a company being harnessed for personal profits, and that company attempting to maximize its profits by shutting down any competition, potentially by "raising awareness of AI safety concerns", is quite high simply based on our modern understanding of how large, powerful companies operate. And a single company with a monopoly on AI, in sole possession of AI (which you clearly agree can be dangerous) seems even more dangerous.
- focom 5y ago
  I agree you pinpointed the real issue. People working on AI ethics are more often than not gate keeper to make sure AI is in the hand of the few. They also want AI to follow the leading moral of the day - Western liberal ideas