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The ones we limit are quite specific and generally are specifically dangerous - like guns, etc. Many dual use technologies, including computing devices, includ

The ones we limit are quite specific and generally are specifically dangerous - like guns, etc. Many dual use technologies, including computing devices, including personal as well as IoT, can be used for a lot of bad things because they are general purpose. And we generally do not limit them at all. I think that LLMs fall into dual-use category where they are mostly used for good but because they are general purpose can be used for all sorts of things.

RandomLensman 3y ago
We do actually police dual use things if the other use is deemed dangerous enough. I don't see LLMs as particularly dangerous, so would not put them in that category.
- pixl97 3y ago
  LLMs at this point are creeping closer to that edge, at least in the western world. If for example you were the Chinese government you may already see LLMs as highly dangerous to your plans of social stability, hence make a lot of rules now on their policing.
  - FiniteField 3y ago
    I think if anything it's the other way. For the Chinese system and other "traditional authoritarian" regimes in which power flows from the top down fairly straightforwardly, LLMs are just another form of speech that is pretty openly cracked down on. The West's "crown jewel" is its democracy, in which power supposedly flows up from the consensus of the people, and cheap AI bots have the possibility of tipping the scales of consensus. That's the idealistic view anyway. A more cynical one might be that in the West, the flow of power from the top down is obfuscated by filtering it through the media and other institutions, who manufacture public consensus, and LLMs are liable to disrupt this system in a way those in power can't predict right now.
dv_dt 3y ago
The tech industry regulates email spam regularly - not to a prefect degree but to a much better state than throwing up your hands and doing nothing. And it’s not just filtering incoming spam, spam abusive accounts are regularly removed from service providers.
- earthboundkid 3y ago
  The CAN SPAM Act didn't "can spam" (spammers don't care that they are breaking the law) but it did successfully make it so that all the legitimate commercial emails you get have an unsubscribe link at the bottom. It's important to recognize where government regulation can help (the unsubscribe links are great!) and where it has limited effect (if you're selling fake boner pills, you don't care about breaking some other law).
gmerc 3y ago
We are asking for knives to be sold dull specifically because people could hurt others with them, chefs be damned.

RandomLensman 3y ago

We do actually police dual use things if the other use is deemed dangerous enough. I don't see LLMs as particularly dangerous, so would not put them in that category.

pixl97 3y ago
LLMs at this point are creeping closer to that edge, at least in the western world. If for example you were the Chinese government you may already see LLMs as highly dangerous to your plans of social stability, hence make a lot of rules now on their policing.
- FiniteField 3y ago
  I think if anything it's the other way. For the Chinese system and other "traditional authoritarian" regimes in which power flows from the top down fairly straightforwardly, LLMs are just another form of speech that is pretty openly cracked down on. The West's "crown jewel" is its democracy, in which power supposedly flows up from the consensus of the people, and cheap AI bots have the possibility of tipping the scales of consensus. That's the idealistic view anyway. A more cynical one might be that in the West, the flow of power from the top down is obfuscated by filtering it through the media and other institutions, who manufacture public consensus, and LLMs are liable to disrupt this system in a way those in power can't predict right now.

dv_dt 3y ago

The tech industry regulates email spam regularly - not to a prefect degree but to a much better state than throwing up your hands and doing nothing. And it’s not just filtering incoming spam, spam abusive accounts are regularly removed from service providers.

earthboundkid 3y ago
The CAN SPAM Act didn't "can spam" (spammers don't care that they are breaking the law) but it did successfully make it so that all the legitimate commercial emails you get have an unsubscribe link at the bottom. It's important to recognize where government regulation can help (the unsubscribe links are great!) and where it has limited effect (if you're selling fake boner pills, you don't care about breaking some other law).

gmerc 3y ago

We are asking for knives to be sold dull specifically because people could hurt others with them, chefs be damned.