It becomes a trend and I think it's just part of a PR campaign - AI so good and it's so close to AGI that:
* The world is doomed.
* I'm tired of success, stop this stream of 1M ARR startups popping up on my computer daily.
AI safety leader says 'world is in peril' and quits to study poetry
11–20 of 63 posts
Re: AI safety leader says 'world is in peril' and quits to study poetry
#12Seems to be the MO around here - create and profit off of horrors beyond our wildest imaginations with no accountability and conveniently disappear before shit hits the fan. Not before writing an op-ed though.
Unfortunately, the real horrors are just the mundane uses of AI: Whitewash excuses to keep the same people out of prison, put the same people in prison, hire the same people you want to hire, and do whatever you want because the AI can do no wrong.
Hint, there's no AGI here. Just stupid people who can spam you with the same stuff they used to need to pay hype men to do.
Re: AI safety leader says 'world is in peril' and quits to study poetry
#13> his contributions included investigating why generative AI systems suck up to users
Why does it take research to figure this out? Possibly the greatest unspoken problem with big-coporate-AI is that we can't run prompts without the input already pre-poisoned by the house-prompt.
We can't lead the LLM into emergent territory when the chatbot is pre-engineered to be the human equivalent of a McDonalds order menu.
Re: AI safety leader says 'world is in peril' and quits to study poetry
#14If good and bad both get amplified, I hope the equilibrium is maintained.
actually we don't want that- a high equilibrium could still contain a world with a very large imbalance- on one side people dying of thirst, hunger and on another side people have it so good that they waste a ton of food, water everyday. we should aim for a more balanced world even if we have to sacrifice the amplitude of a few but we are only going further from it.
Re: AI safety leader says 'world is in peril' and quits to study poetry
#15We're in a dark age. There's only peril.
(and no, AI is not the renaissance)
Re: AI safety leader says 'world is in peril' and quits to study poetry
#16Re: AI safety leader says 'world is in peril' and quits to study poetry
#17It sounds like a mental health crisis. So many people are experiencing them when interacting with AI.
There was no mental health crisis, it was a bank account crisis. As in, "I sold my options on the secondary market, and those numbers on my bank statement are now so large I'm scared to stay at my job!" It was no secret what they were signing up for, so I find it too convenient that Anthropic raises a bunch of money, and suddenly this person has an ethical crisis.
Re: AI safety leader says 'world is in peril' and quits to study poetry
#18"Well you're all f***, good luck. I'll take my millions and go live on my micro farm"
Exactly. If he cared that much he could quit and live off of his millions trying to help mitigate the damage by informing the public of what is pending and ideas on how to push back.
A poet can't inform people of things?
Seems like a weird take. Poets, musicians and artists have a very long history of inspiring and contributing to movements. Some successful, some not successful. Sometimes heeded and other times ignored until it was too late. But to say being a poet is not trying to inform people is ignorant at best, and is a claim that will need evidence.
Re: AI safety leader says 'world is in peril' and quits to study poetry
#19I recommend reading the letter. Many of the comments here seem to have missed that the comment of "the world is in peril" is not referring to AI, but to the larger collection of crises going on in the world. It sounds to me like someone who realized their work doesn't match their goals for their own life, and is taking action.
Maybe the cynics have a point that it is an easier decision to make when you are loaded with money. But that is how life goes - the closer you get to having the funds to not have to work, the more you can afford the luxury of being selective in what you do.
Re: AI safety leader says 'world is in peril' and quits to study poetry
#20"Well you're all f***, good luck. I'll take my millions and go live on my micro farm"
Exactly. If he cared that much he could quit and live off of his millions trying to help mitigate the damage by informing the public of what is pending and ideas on how to push back.
It's not a calling that's suited for everyone, some people spend their whole lives trying and accomplish nothing.
I lose little respect to someone who sounds the alarm for others but chooses the easy path for themselves. There are so many who won't pull the alarm, or outright try to prevent people from doing so. We only have so much time to spend.