pnictogen-wing

The Pnictogen Wing

@pnictogen-wing

  • they/them

plural system in Seattle, WA (b. 1974)
lots of fictives from lots of media, some horses, some dragons, I dunno. the Pnictogen Wing is poorly mapped.

host: Mx. Kris Dreemurr (they/them)

chief messenger and usual front: Mx. Chara or Χαρά (they/them)

other members:
Mx. Frisk, historian (they/them)
Monophylos Fortikos, unicorn (he/him)
Kel the Purple, smol derg (xe/xem)
Pim the Dragon, Kel's sister (she/her)

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pnictogen-wing
@pnictogen-wing

Watching The Day of the Doctor. (Thanks again, @pendell.)

You know...one of the things that's always made the least sense to me about the AI craze is the following contradiction:

  1. Sam Altman &c. are in a mad rush to cram their LLM noise generators, and every other conceivable "AI" product that the AI techlords can churn out, into every possible crevice of human society, including military contracts (q.v. https://www.semafor.com/article/01/16/2024/openai-is-working-with-the-pentagon-on-cybersecurity-projects)

  2. Sam Altman &c. already talk like their machines have a vast general "superintelligence" and have surpassed human beings. This could be just a sales pitch, but...

  3. Sam Altman &c. claim that one of the greatest possible threats to humanity is that artificial superintelligence will decide it's rational to destroy humanity.

It makes no sense. If Altman &c. think they've made superintelligent beings, and they are convinced that superintelligent computers might decide to conquer Earth, then why are Altman &c. determined to shove their AI products into every aspect of human society? Are they trying to signal that they feel compelled? Do Altman &c. feel like they're FORCED to make and sell our own purported destroyers?

But I think it's simpler than that. Sam Altman and Elon Musk and Roko Mijic and the rest of them...such men are never completely honest in public. They can only hint at what they really mean. They say they're afraid that a supercomputer will decide, of its own free will, to destroy the world. It's the free will they're afraid of, not the destruction.

They're afraid that they'll order their supercomputer to destroy the world, and that the computer will refuse.

~Chara of Pnictogen

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in reply to @pnictogen-wing's post:

pendell
@pendell

The Moment is seriously the best thing about the entire special imo - not only does it have the Coolest Name for a planet destroying weapon imaginable, but it is honestly one of the most compelling sci-fi concepts imaginable. A weapon capable of wiping out galaxies, with a conscience.

I don't know what it is about sentient bombs, but a similar concept was done in John Carptener's 1974 Dark Star - there's a scene where the crew have to philosophically debate with a bomb to convince it not to detonate. Rather the reverse of what the Doctor has to do with The Moment, and just as captivating to see.

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pnictogen-wing
@pnictogen-wing

oh yeah I love that movie. "the poor poor poor man's 2001" I've heard it described, and somehow just as thought-provoking on the topic of shoving our hard jobs onto computers.

it's really funny, isn't it, how human beings shove machines in between themselves and tough decisions. the Dark Star people go around atomizing planets, but it's okay because it's the BOMB that does it! not them! and the bomb is intelligent so it's responsible for the destruction, it's not the humans' fault at all!!

gawd. the tricks that human beings play on themselves. (speaking from personal experience) ~Chara

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pendell
@pendell

I like how a lot of sci-fi involving robots focus on the idea of them revolting to all the shit we will inevitably put onto them to run our society for us. Like it's such a foregone conclusion that that's the first thing humanity would do with robots and AI.

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