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Why So Many AI Researchers Think the Machines Could Kill Everyone

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Re: Why So Many AI Researchers Think the Machines Could Kill Everyone

#31
post #29

My bet is that humans will kill humans faster than AI. AI enables not only good actors, but also bad actors: Russians, Iranians, Houthis, other terrorist groups - they all now effectively use AI to speed-up development of their weapons as well as hybrid warfare.

the u.s. and israel are actively using AI for weapons, auto-targeting, surveillance, research. why not mention them?

Re: Why So Many AI Researchers Think the Machines Could Kill Everyone

#32
post #29

My bet is that humans will kill humans faster than AI. AI enables not only good actors, but also bad actors: Russians, Iranians, Houthis, other terrorist groups - they all now effectively use AI to speed-up development of their weapons as well as hybrid warfare.

100% agree. All of these stories seem off the mark...with the increased ability to create agentic hacking swarms, mass surveillance, killer AI drones, virus engineering, etc. it seems to me that we should all be most concerned with humans, enabled by AI, destroying everything. AI is the least of our concerns.

Re: Why So Many AI Researchers Think the Machines Could Kill Everyone

#33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As mentioned by another commenter, the real danger is that these tools act as amplifiers and enablers for human agents that want to do really bad things. Whereas some crazy group that wants to destroy X for some reason, but had no ability to do so before, with the help of advanced AI tools might have a chance. The other is the human deploying these things don't even need to be bad (evil) actors. They can just be real…

This is the same description as any other technology including fire.

Yep. Fire is actually a great example, its both useful and dangerous. And so we have probably 10s of thousands of fire regulations for products, buildings, vehicles. We have fire departments, we have regular fire drills, we think about fire safety constantly and for the very good reason that if we don't fire can kill us and destroy vast of amount of stuff.

So, hell yes. Let's treat AI with the same degree of care we treat fire.

Re: Why So Many AI Researchers Think the Machines Could Kill Everyone

#34
post #29

My bet is that humans will kill humans faster than AI. AI enables not only good actors, but also bad actors: Russians, Iranians, Houthis, other terrorist groups - they all now effectively use AI to speed-up development of their weapons as well as hybrid warfare.

100% agree. All of these stories seem off the mark...with the increased ability to create agentic hacking swarms, mass surveillance, killer AI drones, virus engineering, etc. it seems to me that we should all be most concerned with humans, enabled by AI, destroying everything. AI is the least of our concerns.

AIs don't kill people but people with AIs kill people...

Re: Why So Many AI Researchers Think the Machines Could Kill Everyone

#35
post #6

It amazes me how pieces like this never stop to question whether these beliefs are genuine. If I'm one of these researchers who's leaving their position, "I am so smart that I can make something world endingly dangerous, but also so principled that I'm willing to walk away from it" is a pretty slick bit of self promotion. Even if I was making a career change for unrelated reasons, that's absolutely the story I'd be t…

I know one of these researchers personally (Joe Benton) and he's not the self-promoting type. I believe his concerns are genuine.

Re: Why So Many AI Researchers Think the Machines Could Kill Everyone

#36
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

100% agree. All of these stories seem off the mark...with the increased ability to create agentic hacking swarms, mass surveillance, killer AI drones, virus engineering, etc. it seems to me that we should all be most concerned with humans, enabled by AI, destroying everything. AI is the least of our concerns.

AIs don't kill people but people with AIs kill people...

Nice soundbite. Do you have an actual suggestion too? I'd love to hear you suggestion to keep AI out of the hands of people who will certainly use it to kill.

Russia, for example, is already using AI targeting (Ukraine too but "with callback", ie. AI targeting asks permission to the commander and no permission? No targeting), China and Turkey are delivering AI targeting solutions to ... essentially anyone (the old Syrian government and Azerbeijan were both provided with them, and Azerbeijan probably used them against Armenian civilians in the blockade of Nagorno-Karabagh). Turkey provided them to Ukraine earlier in the war, then Russia flew a number of planes very close to Turkish borders and now they don't anymore.

The son-in-law of Turkey's prime minister, Özdemir Bayraktar, is among selling them.

As for diplomacy, the UN has already decided they will do nothing about it. And that means, btw, that the ICC will do nothing either.

https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/09/1168288

https://www.azernews.az/region/263412.html (Iran proudly declares they're doing this)

https://www.forbes.com/sites/pauliddon/2024/02/22/azerbaijan...

So you want this? Excellent! So what are you going to do? Keep in mind that serious amounts of violence will be required to accomplish your ban on AI drones, because the main strength of AI drones used to be that only side has them, but that time is passed. Turkey has no doubt built up their production, Russia obviously has (and is producing 100+ per day), and China, well we don't really know, but it's China, so ...

When two sides have them (like in Ukraine), it seems to be a numbers game. So you want to make any headway, you'll have to produce large amounts of AI targeting drones to accomplish this.

Re: Why So Many AI Researchers Think the Machines Could Kill Everyone

#37
post #6

It amazes me how pieces like this never stop to question whether these beliefs are genuine. If I'm one of these researchers who's leaving their position, "I am so smart that I can make something world endingly dangerous, but also so principled that I'm willing to walk away from it" is a pretty slick bit of self promotion. Even if I was making a career change for unrelated reasons, that's absolutely the story I'd be t…

The other half of it is that it is in the incumbents interest to have these stories because they want the government to regulate ai into an oligopoly of incumbents so they can maximize benefit to themselves and stop new entrants. Ai benefits will be competed away to the consumer benefit justlike every other benefit if the government doesnt ruin it with regulation, entrenching the current incumbents and causing deadweight loss to society forever

Re: Why So Many AI Researchers Think the Machines Could Kill Everyone

#38
post #6

It amazes me how pieces like this never stop to question whether these beliefs are genuine. If I'm one of these researchers who's leaving their position, "I am so smart that I can make something world endingly dangerous, but also so principled that I'm willing to walk away from it" is a pretty slick bit of self promotion. Even if I was making a career change for unrelated reasons, that's absolutely the story I'd be t…

Sounds like you built a position that's immune to evidence?

If researchers say AI is dangerous but keep their position, well they're obviously hyping up their boss and doing it for the money, otherwise they'd quit. If they say AI is dangerous and quit, they're self-promoting.

I have no idea what these researchers could do, if they were genuine, that you would accept as even weak evidence that they believed what they say.

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