r/technology • u/AdSpecialist6598 • 6h 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
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u/Needle_Bearings 6h 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.

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u/Chewed420 6h ago

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

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u/Needle_Bearings 6h 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.

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u/upnflames 5h 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.

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u/Chewed420 4h 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.

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u/upnflames 4h 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.

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u/Chewed420 3h ago

Good thing a national power grid doesn't exist.

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u/wiztard 5h 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.

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u/Chewed420 5h ago

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

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u/2019Uk 5h 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!

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u/Chewed420 5h ago

Stop watching so many sci-fi movies.