91–100 of 129 posts
> One strategy could be a superintelligent machine—essentially, an extremely powerful algorithm—that’s specifically designed to govern fairly. I volunteer to write that fair governing powerful algorithm. You can trust me to make it fair and not make it favor my biases and interests.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What exactly do you think fascist means
Fascism (/ˈfæʃɪzəm/) is a form of far-right, authoritarian ultranationalism characterized by dictatorial power, forcible suppression of opposition, and strong regimentation of society and of the economy which came to prominence in early 20th-century Europe. - from Wikipedia. Pretty sure his proposal nails the dictatorial power, forcible suppression of opposition, and strong regimentation of society parts. After all,…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
They're disposable. They don't need to take anything.
And shaped charges are entirely besides the point. They could instead carry a small auto-injector (like an EpiPen) containing a few mg of ricin [1]. It'd be like getting stung by an insect. Within days the symptoms would start to appear. If this happened to even a few hundred people, let alone thousands, then hospitals would be completely overwhelmed and people would be dying everywhere. It would cause a mass panic.…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
A few hundred is within the scope of what people are doing with conventional explosives. The article is talking about the ability to target millions of people. I just don't believe we will see a day when tiny drones with epipens pose a greater threat than guns.
What sets it apart from conventional explosives is that it's decentralized. A single attacker can distribute these things all over a city. This makes it much more difficult to mitigate the threat, let alone apprehend the attacker.
"Will emerging technologies make the state system obsolete? It’s hard to see why not." Yeah, it's hard to see why not if your view of technology is something like that of medieval demonology, which appears to be the thesis of this article. Meanwhile, in reality land, you can make explosives and poison gas out of stuff in your kitchen, automobiles put a ridiculous amount of kinetic energy in the hands of individuals,…
Honest question - could the U.S. Government be considered an Abstract State Machine?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Drone + cluster bomblet, cheep. That sort of thing scares me more than weapons of mass destruction. Because they are usable by non-nation state actors and rouge nation state actors. It's not that I'm worried anyone's going to try to take me out (like why?). It's I'm worried what sort of society we end up with when people like Larry Ellison are terrified of the above.
It's I'm worried what sort of society we end up with when people like Larry Ellison are terrified of the above. I would like to subscribe to your newsletter. Do you by chance have a manifesto I could peruse?
Are you insinuating something?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Fascism (/ˈfæʃɪzəm/) is a form of far-right, authoritarian ultranationalism characterized by dictatorial power, forcible suppression of opposition, and strong regimentation of society and of the economy which came to prominence in early 20th-century Europe. - from Wikipedia. Pretty sure his proposal nails the dictatorial power, forcible suppression of opposition, and strong regimentation of society parts. After all,…
Well, that's not why Google are doing it. Perhaps I'm mistaken about their motivations?!?
Bostrom is well-aware of the downsides—corrupt actors in a state could exploit this surveillance for totalitarian ends, or hackers could blackmail unsuspecting victims. Yet the fact is that it may still be a better option than suffering one global catastrophe after another. Aspiring fascists are always trying to save us from ourselves.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I mean if you barred the doors to a theater and tossed a few gallons of bleach and vinegar in you could also just gas hundreds of people, but it doesn't happen. We worry a lot about technology because the attacks sound novel, but not about the conventional ones which still (mostly) don't happen because the reality is that the actual logistical challenges of implementing them without security services noticing still h…
Agree with all that, but when it comes to synbio, the article is 100% right to raise alarms.