Comment Re:The thread of AGI ... (Score 1) 161
The question is will anyone pull the plug does anyone have the will to pull the plug, who can actually make that decision?
I don't mean nominally either, I mean practically. Even if you are the CEO; giving the order to shut down you hyper-scaled AI/ML platform because someone some people from the 'safety' team you only hired to virtue signal in the first place say they think 'something' is happening. Its a career ending move, most likely, and you'll have to hang around and slug it out with half a nation of disgruntled 401k holders who saw the NASDAQ drop and are demanding the company start operating again.
Could president or some member of the joint-chiefs demand power be cut to the datacenter. Same problems what will people believe, what will the political fall out of 'blowing up the economy be'?
Now for the record I think this is all hype. These people are saying this stuff because what they really want you think is, 'omg omg if this technology is so powerful even the owners are afraid of it, it just has to be the next big thing, its like harnessing the atom was 70 years ago! BUY BUY FOMO BUY BUY' At no point is anything resembling the current state of the art over at OpenAI going to turn into 'Mike' (See the Moon is a Harsh Mistress). Its just marketing. However if a real synthetic intellect ever did appear AND start to have control over IRL events in any remotely unexpected ways I have little to no faith the organizations around it would recognize what was happening and respond appropriately. I suspect it takes more courage to pull the plug than most folks have.