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Comment by hackyhacky

2 days ago

> The Israeli Effective Altruist firm Irregular caused unsecured AI models to hack real targets.

Why are we saying it this way? They did not "cause AI to hack." This phrasing in analogous to saying "caused the bullet to fire into" instead of "shot."

Bullet trajectories are deterministic. A better analogy would be "caused a pair of trained fighting dogs to bite a passerby by leaving the gate open". There is some uncertainty and variation in the system, though gross negligence and willful endangerment is key.

> They did not "cause AI to hack.

You do not know what they did or didn't do, you are just parroting a narritive that makes you feel comfortable.

I do not know either, but I am not asserting facts as if I have first hand knowledge of the details.

  • The details don't matter. If you use a machine to commit murder, then you have committed murder, not the machine. The user is responsible, and the article's phrasing is an attempt to obscure that fact.

    • First, I agree with you in theory.

      Second, empirically; the diff between murder, manslaughter etc... is literally "intent" so it matters.