3 ms·
I am frustrated We do face an existential threat, but this is not it We face an existential threat from capitalists and greed heads that want to burn the worl
by worik 3y ago
I am frustrated
We do face an existential threat, but this is not it
We face an existential threat from capitalists and greed heads that want to burn the world for profit.
This is a real looming catastrophe that is entirely avoidable
Except for greed
The threat from AI is entirely hypothetical
- pjerem 3y agoWell, I’m not sure those treats are unrelated. I had an interesting conversation with … ChatGPT. You know what ? ChatGPT is prompted to convince you that it is inoffensive thanks to OpenAI’s safeguards, precautions, and research on ethical AI. But ask him what would happen if a malicious organization took control of OpenAI. Ask him if it would represent a threat for humanity and, interestingly, it will answer that yes, that would be a big threat for humanity. GPT is convinced / prompted that OpenAI are the good guys. Interestingly, I don’t share this view.
- PeterisP 3y agoI think the key difference is whether people mean it literally or metaphorically if they say that something is an "existential threat". Inequality and oppression and war and climate change and surveillance states and slavery and all kinds of other things may result in a dystopian future, but all those are obviously not literally existential threats, as humanity would keep existing, only in fewer numbers and much worse conditions. On the other hand, there all kinds of events that are much less likely than those former ones, but are literally existential threats for humanity - like major asteroid strikes or the worst case scenarios of stronger-than-human AI, or perhaps some pandemics or nuclear war might cross that threshold iff they can wipe out all of humanity, not "just" most of it.