The Government needs to do something

How would you know if they were running those systems?

Looks like people are surprised at lack of engagement on this topic

I would normally stay out of it because I feel I don’t know enough but if you actually want the observations of an average Jane, here’s mine…

I was worried about how society would cope if every system was hacked - by an enemy for example - maybe 30 years ago. But there’s nothing I can do about it because that’s just the way things are now. I think we’ve been too reliant on computers since the beginning of computers really.

When I first heard of AI in the workplace, about 12 to 15 years ago, I can’t really remember - I was accused of being a conspiracy theorist (by other people outside of my work, obviously) because the things that were clearly planned for it were… what you see now in daily life. I wanted to raise awareness and I wanted to slow it down and use guard rails, admittedly for selfish reasons because I just could not imagine getting older and having to deal with this shit.

But then within a couple of years I realised the battle was effectively lost and I stopped trying to say anything about it. Also, I had enough of being accused of a conspiracy theorist during you-know-what.

I actually feel I’ve been very late to the party, for a range of reasons. I’m only just now looking at training for it. That’s partly due to circumstances in my personal life but I do consider myself very late in trying to get some training. Very, very late.

It’s interesting to see people talking about the end of the world by 2030 or 2050 or whatever because that really would make retraining a waste of time and effort, well it would if it was 2030.

My inexpert opinion is yes, this is a different type of threat. But I am not worried about the end of the world in the sense of them getting hold of nuclear codes or something. I find the idea of the world just going on and on incredibly depressing.

I am worried about issues affecting our normal infrastructure and making life completely miserable. I suppose I’d have to apply the same principle as I would during nuclear attack - which is walk towards the cloud, don’t walk away from it, because you don’t want to survive that.

Only it could happen in a much more slow and painful way and you wouldn’t have a handy cloud to walk into?

However, the slow decline that concerns me is something that could have happened before AI anyway, it was the reliance on tech that was the issue. Again, if you go back 15 or 20 years, I’ve had tech people tell me that even tech people don’t understand the tech!

So I’m still not quite sure how new this is. Before AI, an enemy could’ve used a different means to cut off our water, our electricity. The tech was incredibly advanced before AI. I think the extra factor now is that there would be more chaos in the sense that nobody would know how to fix it.

It worries me when I stop and think about it. But I had my real thoughts on this maybe 10 years ago. So I’ve had time to adjust? I do think this is where we are now and unless governments can be pressured into legislation, what can we do?

Someone has made a very interesting point that the big companies DO want legislation - because it will preserve their monopoly. If it can be designed like that, then we can probably get them on side.

in all the time I’ve been pondering this, I never worried about some sort of dramatic end of world scenario. If it could happen quickly that would be okay. But that’s the kind of asteroid hitting the Earth scenario. If humanity could just get wiped out in a matter of seconds and painlessly, I don’t that’s a bad thing. There can definitely be worse.

I think the thought that we could all be dead in 3 years is sensationalism. Thing about humans is humanity and the ability to survive, problem solve (necessity is the mother of invention after all) and while in for a crap time of it, would not be wiped out.

I don't like AI, I think it should be stopped but I don't think there will be an ability to have a kill switch. All internet would have to be shut down to be honest, if AI doesn't override that ability if gone rogue, and having no internet would amount to the same outcome.

AI hires as in jobs to create AI tools are declining, the number of jobs that require skills to use AI tools are what is going up.

It’s a bit like confusing jobs designing MS Office with jobs requiring applicants know how to use MS Office.

Err I have. Nothing in it indicates that any UK government can do anything. A kill switch would take too long ( as explained)and do you not realise all our tech(including our military) is totally reliant on the USA.

I was driving behind a car last night that weirdly looked like Ultron from the back. And judging by some other posts on here I think Ultron is definitely in the top running rather than Skynet now.

I agree AI has several dangers, but it's not as clear cut as you make out.

One expert gave the 10% figure. Other experts have said they disagree.

Anthropic and Open AI also both benefit from convincing people AI is super powerful and creating a sort of arms race to increase their stock price before they launch on the stock market.

But even assuming the 10% figure is correct, what do you actually want the UK government to do? Cut the cables to cut the country off from the internet before AI can cut us off from the internet? Attach a kill switch to every data centre in the world?

I can’t say I have thought much yet tbh but rationing …. Worked before. Not saying it would be pretty. There isn’t the ‘society’ there once was anymore anyway.
it’s everyone for themselves and a huge sense of entitlement so yeah maybe that wouldn’t work.
Most probably people would rather fight and kill than work together - maybe we will find out…

I wouldn’t scorn however I’d love to know what she expects any UK government to do.

There’s also multiple genocides, the climate being destroyed, systemic vawg, billionaires with too much power…
but yes let’s focus on the ai lol

So you’re saying our government needs to tell dictataor lead USA , Russia and China what to do.🤔

Kill us how??

What can the government do? It’s an arms race and we are a tiny island.

You lack imagination. If the Internet shuts down all services are disabled.
Water.
Food deliveries.
Traffic control.
Police.
Hospitals.
All money functions.
All government functions.
All infrastructure and repairs of infrastructure.

How do you think you might pootle along and keep teaching in buildings with no water, no electricity, people looting outside, and no police or emergency services keeping on top of the escalating crises? You think your pupils are going to be turning up for lessons from houses with no food and water and parents with no jobs and so on? Let alone all the people currently on medication who run out of it. Parents on anti-depressents, diabetes medication and so on. Kids on diabetes medication, adhd drugs, all these people are just going to 'manage' and your pupils are going to turn up and sit at a desk and listen to you teach? Teach what? Maths? History? Art?
Or how to shoot your neighbour and skin their dog and eat it? Can you teach them that?
You think homeless and displaced people aren't going to just force their way into the nearest shelter - your school - and live in it?

I do agree that there are risks. However, I also feel pretty powerless to do anything about those risks. Yes, I could write to my MP about it etc, but I feel that our government is actually pretty powerless too, as the main developments are happening beyond their jurisdiction.

So I choose not to worry about it.

Trump doesn’t rule the world and in a couple of years, hopefully less, he won’t rule America either

From climate change, genocide, faltering ecomony, loss of jobs.

Resignations or redundancies? I think it is more the latter. You don’t need as many AI guys & gals to maintain a self learning machine as you did to build it. Naturally, they won’t be happy that they’ve worked themselves out of a job.

So wildly naieve. AI will undoubtably become a weapon, if we dip out it just gives other countries a bigger lead. Real change would be somehow isolating the core infastructure from the world wide web, but virtually impossible.

There are issues and risks that will come out but the idea that AI will take over the world and kill us is a bit garbage. The AI is not sentient.

I use it for work. It helps a lot. All that's needed is sensible guardrails. The big tech companies love creating a scare to create strict regs that make it harder for startups and so they have the monopoly.

We need to destroy all computers, and anything with a microprocessor in it and go back to the old ways that served us well for so many years. It is literally the only solution.