Controls over AI just help those not subject to those controls.
Sam Altman goes before US Congress to propose licenses for building AI
801–810 of 1001 posts
Re: Sam Altman goes before US Congress to propose licenses for building AI
#802Open ai has had a surprisingly fast pivot from the appearance of being a scrappy open-ish company trying to build something to share and improve the world to more or less unmitigated embrace of the bad sides of big corporate. This is so unbelievably blatant I almost find it hard to credit.
Were they every really scrappy? They had a ton of funding from the get-go.
> In December 2015, Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, Reid Hoffman, Jessica Livingston, Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Infosys, and YC Research announced[13] the formation of OpenAI and pledged over $1 billion to the venture.
Re: Sam Altman goes before US Congress to propose licenses for building AI
#803"Competition is for losers." — Peter Thiel
Except that Thiel's axiom refers to founding a business on a strategy to sell something that is truly novel, instead of copying what is already on offer. Being first to market as the primary competitive advantage, other than possible ip. Which are all goals that literally no entrepreneurs would find unsound in any way including morally. Thiel has never expressed support for such artless regulatory capture as a means of squashing competition.
Re: Sam Altman goes before US Congress to propose licenses for building AI
#804This is the message I shared with my senator (edited to remove information which could identify me). I hope others will send similar messages. Dear Senator [X], I am an engineer working for [major employer in the state]. I am extremely concerned about the message that Sam Altman is sharing with the Judiciary committee today. Altman wants to create regulatory roadblocks to developing AI. My company produces AI-enabled…
I'm not American even, so I cannot, but what a good idea! I hope the various senators hear this message.
Re: Sam Altman goes before US Congress to propose licenses for building AI
#805Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you want to influence the politicians without money, this is not the way.
You are exactly correct. I have sent correspondence about ten times to my Congressmen and Senators. I have received a good reply (although often just saying there is nothing that they can do) except for the one time I contacted Jon Kyl and unfortunately mentioned data about his campaign donations from Monsanto - I was writing about a bill he sponsored that I thought would have made it difficult for small farmers to s…
I'm 99% sure that that vast majority of federal congress people (which represent ~1 million people each) never see your emails/letters. Your largely speaking to interns/etc who work in the office unless you happen to make a physical appointment and show up in person.
Those interns have a pile of form letters they send for about 99% of (e)mail they get, and if you happen to catch their attention you might get more than than the usual tick mark in a spreadsheet (for/against X). Which at best might be as much as a sentence or two in a weekly correspondence summary which may/may not be read by your representative depending on how seriously they take their job.
Re: Sam Altman goes before US Congress to propose licenses for building AI
#806Earlier quoted context omitted.
Open source doesn't mean outside the reach of regulation, which I would guess is your real desire. You downplay AI's potential danger while well knowing that we are at a historic inflection point. I believe in democracy as the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried. We the people must be in control of our destiny.
Hear, hear. Excellent point, and I don't mean to imply it shouldn't be regulated. However, it has been my general experience that concentrating immense power in governments doesn't typically lead to more security, so perhaps we just have a difference of philosophy. Democracy will not withstand AI when it's fully developed. Let me offer a better written explanation of my general views than I could ever muster up for a…
It's possible that the tsunami of fakes is going to break down trust in a beneficial way where people only believe things they've put effort into verifying.
Re: Sam Altman goes before US Congress to propose licenses for building AI
#807It seems pretty clear at this point, that OpenAI etc will lobby towards making it more difficult for new companies/entities to join the AI space, all in the name of 'safety'. They're trying to make the case that everyone should use AI through their APIs so that they can keep things in check. Conveniently this also helps them build a monopoly. It is pretty aggravating that they're bastardizing and abusing terms like '…
> I personally think that the greatest threat in these technologies is currently the centralization of their economic potential, as it will lead to an uneven spread of their productivity gains, further divide poor and rich, and thus threaten the order of our society.
Me too, in comparison all the other potential threats discussed over here feel mostly secondary to me. I'm also suspecting that at the point where these AIs reach a more AGI level, the big players who have them will just not provide any kind of access all together and just use them to churn out an infinite amount of money-making applications instead.
Re: Sam Altman goes before US Congress to propose licenses for building AI
#808Imagine thinking that regression based function approximators are capable of anything other than fitting the data you give it. Then imagine willfully hyping up and scaring people who don't understand, and because it can predict words you take advantage of the human tendency to anthropomorphize, so it follows that it is something capable of generalized and adaptable intelligence. Shame on all of the people involved in…
Keeps them busy
Re: Sam Altman goes before US Congress to propose licenses for building AI
#809Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you want to influence the politicians without money, this is not the way.
You are exactly correct. I have sent correspondence about ten times to my Congressmen and Senators. I have received a good reply (although often just saying there is nothing that they can do) except for the one time I contacted Jon Kyl and unfortunately mentioned data about his campaign donations from Monsanto - I was writing about a bill he sponsored that I thought would have made it difficult for small farmers to s…
It applies more generally, if you want to change anyone's mind, don't attack or belittle them.
Everything has become so my team vs your team... you are bad because you think differently...
Re: Sam Altman goes before US Congress to propose licenses for building AI
#810Earlier quoted context omitted.
The worries about AI taking over things are founded and important, even if many sci-go depictions of it are inaccurate. I’m not sure if this would be the best solution but please don’t dismiss the issue entirely
Seriously, I'm very concerned by the view being taken here. AI has the capacity to do a ton of harm very quickly. A couple of examples: - Scamming via impersonation - Misinformation - Usage of AI in a way that could have serious legal ramifications for incorrect responses - Severe economic displacement Congress can and should examine these issues. Just because OP works at an AI doesnt' mean that company can't exist i…
I fear the humans engaging in such nefarious activities far more than some blob of code being used by humans engaging in such nefarious activities.
Likewise for activities that aren't nefarious too. Whatever fears that could be placed on blobs of code like "AI", are far more merited being placed on humans.