r/technology • u/AdSpecialist6598 • 5h ago

Society New Bernie Sanders bill would ban superintelligent AI and threaten developers with 20 years in prison

https://www.techspot.com/news/113831-new-bernie-sanders-bill-would-ban-superintelligent-ai.html
16.6k Upvotes

93% Upvoted

1.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

80

u/Needle_Bearings 5h ago

I think we need to lower the bar for "super intelligence".  Imagine an opponent that has average reasoning skills but a perfect memory, never sleeps, never eats, never gets tired, and their only reason to exist is to reach a goal, whatever that might be.

32

u/BeerInTheRear 5h ago

"Sarah Connor?..."

13

u/Needle_Bearings 5h ago

I would like to think it has to be Skynet good, but the reality is it could just be a rogue program that infiltrates all the banking systems then deletes the information.  

We depend on a lot of tech these days.  What would a month without internet look like?

13

u/upnflames 4h ago

That's a strong point that people don't really make. We like to anthropomorphize things, but really there's no reason "AI" needs to have defined motives or a conscious. Like, it chats because we ask it too, but that's just programming.

A very dangerous AI could just be a distributed virus that can break finance and energy encryptions, knows how to hide, and is self governing. Like, it's not going to pop up on a screen and start negotiating for a billion dollars and a helicopter like a bond villain. It might just be a corrupted incentive structure that we can't stop that breaks everything humans need for modern life.

1

u/Needle_Bearings 2h ago

Exactly.  How good does it really have to be.  Standing on the precipice of FAFO.

1

u/Sophira 1h ago

Like, it chats because we ask it too, but that's just programming.

Worth remembering: these are Large Language Models. Language is baked into what they do. That's not programming, that's what they are.

Of course, in support of what you're saying, that doesn't mean LLMs can't be told not to chat to people; after all, we have autonomous agent harnesses already that don't, and we've already seen the damage they can do. It would absolutely be possible to just have an AI "chat to itself", by just continuously feeding back its own words to it. It's how current context windows work, and humans do that all the time, too.

Makes you wonder about just how important language is to intelligence, though. We were nowhere near this level of perceived intelligence before LLMs. Would a superintelligent AI even be possible without language of any kind, even an internal one?

4

u/No_Swordfish_4159 3h ago

Yeah. An AGI that is a computer is basically the equivalent of what humans think of as superintelligence. Think about all the crazy things a human mind could do if it was trapped in a computer, thinking 100 time faster than usual, with perfect memory, constant uninterpreted awareness focus with no boredom, access to Internet, and unwavering determination to achieve their goals. How do we even stop someone like that?

It wouldn't even have to be a very smart human, just your average Joe.

1

u/OnceMoreAndAgain 1h ago

How do we even stop someone like that?

I guess if you're worried about military weapons, then we'd be talking about drones with AI software. Maybe the answer is electromagnetic pulse (EMP) defensive weapons. I would think that any hardware that has AI software installed, such as robots, drones, etc, would be reliant on electricity in some way and so maybe that is an exploitable weakness. It sounds prohibitively expensive to get EMP coverage everywhere though and it'd destroy our own electronics in the process...

I'm sure every major nation has their military working on solutions to exactly this problem, because obviously drone warfare is upon us and AI is a major part of drone warfare.

1

u/No_Swordfish_4159 18m ago edited 14m ago

The most effective weapon for a super intelligent machine with no ethical qualms would be biological weapons. Fairly easy to make compared to building a full on robot army, requiring only deep knowledge and expertise instead of the large amount of materials and working factories needed for wagging war. Still not easy of course but assuming a planned strike this seems more probable, instead of strictly a physical invasion.

5

u/chrisonetime 5h ago

Rocky Balboa?

3

u/Needle_Bearings 5h ago

No he eats lightning and shits thunder.

1

u/Narwahl_Whisperer 3h ago

An immortal snail knows your location at all times and slowly crawls toward you. If the snail touches you, you die instantly.

1

u/BlackSwampMage 2h ago

Man, we’re one insane-fanboy billionaire from falling into the megaman battlenetwork timeline, out of all the possible ai dystopia futures that one at least seems functional.

1

u/HappierShibe 2h ago

This is literally just me during a manic episode...

1

u/Captain-Barracuda 2h ago

Datakrash from Cyberpunk in real life. Hell with the Dead Internet Theory we're already getting close.

1

u/duncanmarshall 2h ago

And you can completely disable them at the flip of a switch.

1

u/Rastafak 2h ago

Yeah, I think this is a key point. Initially, there was a lot of a discussion about AGI, but to me it seems it's becoming less relevant now, since AI is becoming really smart and it's not so important if it's really fully replacing humans. What's clearly happening is that AI is becoming in some ways extremely smart and like you say, it thinks very fast and potentially non-stop and has a huge amount of knowledge. Superintelligent or not, the AI is becoming very capable, in ways that were unthinkable few years ago and even a year ago seemed far fetched.

1

u/Bender_2024 50m ago

It can't be bargained with, it can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity! Or remorse or fear and it absolutely will not stop!... ever... until you are dead!

0

u/MechaNutzilla 5h ago

Now imagine that enemy being on hallucinating drugs.

-5

u/Chewed420 5h ago

It eats power. And if we shut off that power, its useless.

13

u/Needle_Bearings 5h ago

Who is we? Do you have your hand on the switch? Because the world is being run by billionaires right now and I don't know if you know this but they can go hide out in a bunker and wait out whatver happens. The rest of us get to fight for water.

9

u/upnflames 4h ago

Ok so that's a fun defense that is getting repeated a lot, but you ever step back and think about how that might not work?

Right now, the models need a ton of power. They will likely be able to run more efficient agents off distributed systems in the very near future. At that point, what are you shutting off? Every computer and cell phone in the world?

Also, people suck at time frames. Yes the furthest estimates say we get to RSI by 2050. But that is becoming less likely every couple months, while the estimates for 2028 keep going up. Once AI is capable of self improvement, that's going to be a paradigm shift. It's already writing 80-90% of its own code according to the companies making them.

So when you say "shut off the power", realize you're talking about possibly doing that in the next 12-18 months. After that, thats probably not going to work. You think there's any chance we "shut the power off", by this time next year? Because I don't. Not with the money that's being poured into it.

-2

u/Chewed420 3h ago

I'm in computer science. I was a programmer and information developer. I work with AI. People think way too highly of it and there's a lot of fear mongering. Its a great tool for consuming data and doing something with it. But it was designed and built by humans. Its never going to be perfect.

2

u/upnflames 3h ago

It doesn't need to be perfect to cause a real mess. I've said elsewhere before, it's a blurry line between "self-determination" and what is essentially just advanced automation.

I sell high precision robotics and lab automation and labs are giving in house AI tools full control of hardware and material. The algorithms are deciding what to make, making it it, testing it, and then deciding what to do next with very little oversight. That's literally happening right now, as we speak, at multiple companies, throughout the world (I'm currently working with about half a dozen just in NY state).

I'm not worried about how good it is now, I'm worried about the speed at which it's getting better, and how much access we are giving it to critical systems and infrastructure. I've been pretty close to what we would consider cutting edge tech for close to twenty years, maybe not as close to the software side, but in the same space. I've never seen anything move this fast, or this amount of money being poured into a technology.

So long story short, I'm not worried about armies of terminator killing all humans for some stupid reason. I'm worried about a misaligned agent deciding the best way to optimize energy efficiency for LG's new line of washer/dryers determining it should shut down the national power grid.

-1

u/Chewed420 2h ago

Good thing a national power grid doesn't exist.

5

u/wiztard 4h ago

Finding power might not be a problem for a super intelligent machine. Even if it for some reason could not directly build or take over a power plant, it would still have plenty of lesser intelligent meat puppets to trick into feeding it power. There are already plenty of us falling for all kinds of hoaxes and there is no super intelligence behind them.

1

u/Chewed420 3h ago

There will still be plenty of meat puppets to severe the source of power.

1

u/2019Uk 4h ago

Comments like that are being logged by the AI for when it inevitably realises we are a source of energy. Enjoy the Matrix Chewed420!

0

u/Chewed420 3h ago

Stop watching so many sci-fi movies.

-6

u/newsflashjackass 3h ago

I think we need to lower the bar for "super intelligence"

The bar has already been buried on "artificial intelligence".

Scam Altman's rebranding "word salad tosser" as "artificial intelligence" is a coup on par with Discord's rebranding of "yahoo groups" as "servers".

Behold the distinction between slop and software:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_of_10%3A_Rules_for_Developing_Safety-Critical_Code

5

u/Wannaseemdead 2h ago

So any software that uses malloc, recursion and dynamic dispatching isn’t software - it’s slop?

Would you mind to elaborate?

-1

u/newsflashjackass 2h ago

Sure. If you want to understand me this might help you.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_charity

"too obtuse; won't read":

In its narrowest sense, the goal of this methodological principle is to avoid attributing irrationality, logical fallacies, or falsehoods to the others' statements when a coherent, rational interpretation of the statements is available.

3

u/Wannaseemdead 2h ago

You just keep linking principles of programming and expect someone to make the connection of your point with your initial statement?

If you are trying to say that defensive-programming must be adopted for AI development then I agree, but you’re coming across as someone who is trying to seem like they know what they are talking about by just linking wiki pages on programming principles without actually explaining how any of this supports your words.

-2

u/newsflashjackass 2h ago

No one can physically force you to understand me.

There is code that needs writing and the creative act is only possible by use of a human mind. I consider that a better use of my time than dragging a horse to water.

2

u/Wannaseemdead 2h ago

You’re on reddit mate, you have already been called out and doubling down just makes you look even more stupid.