Comment by againstapples
1 day ago
I don't think evil mathematicians are very common or that any of them would be capable of single handedly taking over the world if they were. My concern is more about systems that are beyond human level, those kinds of systems would actually be dangerous to us.
I see the recent progress in mathematics and cybersecurity as signs that models are getting more capable more quickly than usual. The companies plans to develop them by recursive self improvement now seems like a real possibility and I don't think they should be allowed to attempt this.
Solving a bunch of math proofs is a far way from recursive self improvement. Don't worry, it's not like a tech tree in a video game where if you can prove a bunch of theorems then suddenly you unlock the next level of technology.
Machines are already far beyond human capability in plenty of ways. Including cognitive tasks like chess. We've already created the technology we need to destroy ourselves (nuclear weapons), and yet so far (knock on wood), we're still around.
We've even already had programs that can prove (brute force) theorems. As far as I can tell this isn't much different, except the space of theorems that computers can solve has expanded. How far? We can't really say yet.
Does solving more theorems than before suddenly mean computers are capable of anything? No.
Lets turn this around, are humans capable of anything? We like to think we are, but that just seems more like our ego than any hard truth.
Do you think that a tireless, infinitely smart, infinitely evil human would be able to take over the world? I don't. Intelligence is not the limiting reagent in our reality.
I think so, individual dictators have gotten pretty far and they weren't infinitely smart. I think infinitely smart would be enough to extend that to the whole world.