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Comment by bem94 | Hacker News Reader

> Its almost like one of those Black Mirror episodes

I'd always thought of Black Mirror as a warning or reminder to consider the wider consequences of technology. Not as a motivator to develop it faster.

The thought of this kind of technology (no matter how far away it really is from being deployed) terrifies me. I certainly do not trust someone like Elon Musk to develop it responsibly and pause to consider what it will do to all of humanity. That's what is at stake here, the definition of humanity, for better and worse.

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But Elon does reflect on things. Part of his motivation for starting this company was to give humanity the possibility to interface with powerful AIs, which he fears will „leave us behind“. So yes, it might change the definition of humanity, but not because it‘s some unintended side consequence, but because it‘s a solution for a - in his perception - more existential threat to humanity as a whole.

It would be ironic if we ourselves turned into AI-like super powerful entities and AI in a sense of the word as we understand it now, never happens. If that moment were ever to get here, I would imagine we would not "exist" for long or under any pleasant circumstances given the likely fact that the creator of such technology would embed themselves at the center of it, with unlimited powers to control others.

These stories have played out before. Maybe the best example is Oppenheimer vs Edward Teller. There will always be an Edward Teller. Yet we still haven't blown ourselves up. If you ask why and how you will find hope.

> If you ask why and how you will find hope.

Unless you conclude "dumb luck".

Lots of people worked at making it look like "dumb luck". That point gets missed. What they did is not well understood by most people who cry about the dangers of the next pandoras box.

If you're interested in the topic of this comment and its replies, consider reading about the Vulnerable World Hypothesis [1].

I don't know how much credence to give it, however it's a fascinating thought experiment, especially the "Type-1" vulnerabilities.

[1] https://nickbostrom.com/papers/vulnerable.pdf

It ultimately seems to depend on collective discipline to avoid the quickest options.

> I certainly do not trust someone like Elon Musk to develop it responsibly

There's probably no one we could trust with this task. The best we can do is avoid having a monopoly and lock-in.

Additionally, you'd be able to more accurately predict what new technology will do to humanity if you could calculate and process information like a computer.

We need to increase our capacity to comprehend complex systems as things become more complex.

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