Comment by echelon
3 hours ago
I think these incidents and our learnings from them are fascinating. We're figuring out in real time where the rough edges are and how to make this all work. History books (well, not books) will write about this stuff.
It's even more interesting in the context that this is all just a preview of humanity's reaction when the machines can think for themselves.
> History books (well, not books) will write about this stuff.
History is written by the winners. I will leave to your imagination what an AI-winner will write about this.
None of the “rough edges” needed to be “discovered in real time”. Folks have predicted plenty of this for years. It’s also just basic security principles at work.
> We're figuring out in real time where the rough edges are
This is a frustrating thing to see someone write because this is the kind of stuff that people have been warning about for years. If you needed this incident to figure out that something like this could happen, it suggests you're living in a bubble and not paying attention enough to think about the issue critically.
Unfortunately it seems that we as a civilization never learn anything except by trial and error, and are then entirely convinced that nobody could’ve predicted what happened even though many had done just that.
Warnings aren’t the same as loss and blood. Until enough people feel the pain nothing happens. The prior regulatory regime is slowly being unenforced and dismantled. Once enough people lose to much regulation will eventually catch back up.
We humans do not respond to long term risks or rewards very well. Do you live outside the bubble securing enough food in your home to survive an apocalypse, did you and your parents save enough for a car wreck tomorrow, do you wear a mask everywhere you go, do you test everyone you contact for known diseases. Add list infininum.
It's not even that big a deal.
It's kind of funny, even.
When the household robots start carrying guns, sure. But this is more tame than an eleven year old gaming online.
We need to stop clutching pearls. It's deleterious to having a real conversation. Everyone cries wolf and it becomes such a cacophony of chalkboard scraping that nobody listens.
> History books (well, not books) will write about this stuff.
History books will be written about how a person was insulted on the internet?
I am sorry, but this isn't that interesting. This is not a pivotal moment in human development. It's just online harassment, but automated.
How in the world can a bunch of bipeds that for thousands of years has been failing to figure that a hammer is there to drive nails into inanimate matter instead of their heads, have this much hubris to pretend they can build something smarter than themselves, is competely beyond me.
"Oh it's such a fascinating lesson that we've learned today, we could've learned from history of course, but this direct experience is so much better and it's not us who got hurt anyway".
Oh what hubris to believe with such certainty that we cannot build those things.
Hopium to the rescue.