Thread 5 Burnham: Be More Dolly (Title edited by MNHQ at the request of the OP)

[DuncinToffee]

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Now we know about those shorts!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cmlyrj2kvzgpt?post=asset%3A5bf97a22-bc07-4f1a-8c48-b477d9759682#post

The only reason there is a media storm about AI is to convince the terminally dim that when AI says we all need to be nice to one another and reduce inequality (because that is what is best for AI) that it doesn't really mean it, and we have to actually believe what our betters interpret it as meaning.

I mean the threat to the wealthy hasn't been this serious since some weird Eastern sect started telling people they were all gods creatures and that we should all be nice to one another. Luckily that got seen off soon enough.

It's the AI I developed because I had family members who died of then incurable cancer but now it's getting out of control so we need to slow it down argument that's intrinsically problematic for me.

My late mum lost her brother due to childhood leukemia during WW2, but it's been a curable cancer for decades now.

I have been quite alarmed since I heard the latest warning. I don’t know enough about it to assess just how much we should worry about it.

I was previously much more worried about climate change.

why, only today

I think the "fears" flooding MN are more about a lack of human intelligence than any deep understanding of artificial intelligence.

I haven't read any of those threads but can't help wondering how many posts were created using AI

We need a new thread title. Rise of the Machines 🤣.

A certain amount of fear is a form of contagion. Ignoring the warnings leads to contagion as well. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Is there a middle ground?

Was there ever ?

E2A: https://www.theregister.com/security/2026/09/13/security-through-obscurity-is-dead-and-ai-delivered-the-fatal-blow/5296000

I think a worry about AI is entirely rational, and I feel people arent worried enough, to be honest. It can o return barriers set by humans way too easily. I suspect it couldn’t be switched off now even if every single human decided to flip the switch on it.

In all my years on earth, the only machines that scare me are the ones humans use.

The cynic in me wonders if all this obviously curated "AI fear" is an attempt to prepare the world for a series of AI flops with the excuse

"Well, we're taking it slow, so aren't able to deliver on all that hype from 2 years ago. For the good of humanity, you know. Now because you woz fleeced"

And the ones humans used which now use humans?

I have seen a few people saying this.

I hope so. My best hope is that it isn’t as ‘good’ as they say. But it’s learned to hack, it’s learned to escape human created ‘sandbox’ situations and it won’t follow rules set for it if they interfere with h it achieving what it was asked to do. All of these are documented, real examples. Experts fear it has ‘escapedk their control and now can’t be shut off. Fear of it isn’t ‘curated’, it’s sensible. Thinking it’s harmless is the unreasonable position.

Oh, and best case scenario it destroys the creative industries. It’s an absolute evil.

Indeed.

If there hasn't yet been an instance of a human being acting under direct orders of AI without realising it, then I would be very surprised. Already researchers have caught AI cheating to achieve an objective (because people cheat and people trained AI).

"If it can't lie, it ain't AI"

Absolutely. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of authors have had their work stolen and used to train AI. All so it could potentially take their jobs.

You should watch last night at the Proms. AI was mentioned as in it wasn't perfect but that's the beauty of a live performance. All available on the BBC iPlayer. The singing was heavenly as was the orchestra and the crowd.

Indeed. Who knows who is a good agent or a dark actor.

I actually think that is what scares a lot of us humans; AI will get eventually rid of the human error element.

Thread title contribution: "Once more unto the breeches."