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We can't comprehend the danger that could be caused by strong AI because we don't understand how to make worlds. Embedded within the fabric of the cosmos are th
by fitzwatermellow 11y ago
We can't comprehend the danger that could be caused by strong AI because we don't understand how to make worlds. Embedded within the fabric of the cosmos are the instructions for materializing a black hole from dark matter and energy. And though the recipe may be hidden from our mortal minds it's possible they may be discovered by a de novo thinking machine. A software system with infinite IQ but the moral sense of a one day old. An electronic brain that would have no compunction in creating a super massive black hole right here on Earth just to see if it can succeed. Irrespective of the consequences to humanity.
If this "Jupiter-sized" consciousness is allowed to have thoughts that are not "amenable to inspection". Even perhaps beyond comprehension. And the danger elides to the scale of a solar system with nothing but diamonds in it. Then, by the naysayers own logic, shouldn't all AI research be outlawed? Or at least confined to the equivalent of CDC-level-5 quarantine labs?
If on the other hand you believe that Nature has certain innate prophylactics. And that it takes more than a super will to bend the laws that govern space and time. You may be self-assured in thinking we as a species have at least a century or two before we really need to begin worrying about virtual immortals.
- schoen 11y agoYou could do quite a lot of damage with the regular old laws of nature that we understand already, if you were really good at applying them. For example, you could make autonomous robot weapons, or extremely virulent pathogens with a long incubation period. Or do some geoengineering (you don't even have to be good at it, you just have to do something with a big impact). There's absolutely no need to "bend the laws that govern space and time"! Edit: or launch a planetary defense mission in reverse, to increase the probability of asteroid impact events.
- Dylan16807 11y agoOr just put a bunch of uranium in the same room...
- sampo 11y agoI guess there are some terrorist organizations who have more desire "to watch the world burn" (a Batman movie quote) than the actual intelligence to make effective plots and schemes. You could just communicate by email and chat to provide evil genius level strategic consultation to some very bad men.