Entrepreneur Musk lobbies for government control of AI programs | Hacker News Reader

Entrepreneur Musk lobbies for government control of AI programs

recode.net

15 pointsbaybal27 comments

Already discussed: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14780752

The original lacks the actual video of the event though

I think Musk is taking the supervillan jokes a little too seriously. "AI", even though it has produced a number of useful and probably-useful techniques, still has yet to demonstrate anything near enough to intelligence to be dangerous of its own decision. And it's not even close. It's still all parlor tricks or narrow domain-specific applications.

If any AI product is dangerous, it'll be because it's not good enough, or its limitations aren't well known, or because it's been poorly used or built or is otherwise buggy... like any other piece of software.

That doesn't mean we shouldn't have controls in place to regulate it.

The biggest "danger" in regards to AI is that people often wrongly assume that any significant level of human like intelligence is required, beyond that they also wrongly assume that we would be even able to recognize if it does reach a level of intelligence that poses a risk.

One of the most common thought experiments is a basic optimizer that goes out of control. This "AI" doesn't need to be intelligent it just needs to have sufficient agency in the real world and basic problem solving capabilities.

In fact a stupid AI with excessive agency arguably scares me more than a rogue Cortana. If only because the latter can be negotiated with while the former could launch a nuclear strike against every population center except 3 because it thinks it's the best way for American Idol to beat Big Brother in ratings.

They'll probably nip this one in the bud like they wish they had with the internet and encryption.

When radio first came out anyone could set up a broadcast station until the government put regulations on who could broadcast. Same with TV. It's becoming more and more apparent that the internet has the potential to threaten the current power structures, as does encryption. AI will be another threat to the current power structure.

50 years from now the internet will be as regulated as television and you'll need a special license to use encryption, set up a server, use AI, etc.

I'm still failing to grasp how you would be able to regulate something like this. I completely understand why it could be important to regulate, but what exactly would that look like. I also feel that the US Government probably knows the least about AI at this point. A lot would have to change for them to be able to effectively regulate it.

AI has countless benefits and, later on, obvious dangers, but until we learn to cope with the problems humanity has, no-one will unite on this issue, so even if Musk gets a country, even the US, to listen, others (China) won't care and, as people like Bostrom have described, you only need one instance that crosses the threshold.

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