I don't tend to worry about things, more-so than is maybe healthy, but that's just how I am. I very much like the Newt Scamander quote about worry:
"worrying means you suffer twice"
Having said that, my advice to anxiety ridden family members of "just don't worry about it" isn't generally taken as useful or actionable advice, so I'll make an attempt at logic:
I think the nuclear arms race was scarier. It was literally designed as a city-destroying super-weapon. AI is at least designed as a profit-making service first, and anything it is then used for is secondary - which, to be fair, will include weapons / weaponisation, but at least it's not the primary raison d'être.
Additionally, I have a certain amount of faith in humanity's ability to deal with an existential crisis. There's an odd 'other side of the coin' to a government's desire to stay in power (which I don't usually trust) which can actually mean it will work surprisingly well to ensure it's own remaining viability in times of actual crisis. I'm hesitant to point to the COVID response, for reasons of political divisiveness of the resulting commentary, but governments generally took the advice of experts in the interest of maintaining a population to be able to govern over - which is better than the alternative.
Ultimately, I just don't worry about it. But I do pay attention to it. I worry about what I can control on a day-to-day basis, and don't really have a lot of mental space or energy for much else. I find that to be a healthy mental space to occupy.
That makes sense. You may as well be right. And I agree that the nuclear arms race was probably scarier in practice.
I think my main concern is the sheer velocity of this revolution. Between yesterday and today, we’re now seeing the news that an OpenAI internal model that’s “a step-function improvement” over Astra (!) on several benchmarks has solved the Navier-Stokes Millenium Prize Problem.
At this rate, I fear governments (slow as they are) might not even see it coming before it’s far too late. I also fear that AI researchers, despite being well-intentioned, might turn reckless under the pressures of the frontier labs that employ them to accelerate at all costs.
But following your logic, I agree, it’s probably not hopeless yet. And I do believe there are highly smart people with more power and influence than me that are keeping a close eye on this as well, and they won’t stand there with arms crossed if they believe doom is impending (so I hope).
Good reminder about worrying about what we can control, and thanks for sharing your perspective on this topic.
Comments
I don't tend to worry about things, more-so than is maybe healthy, but that's just how I am. I very much like the Newt Scamander quote about worry:
"worrying means you suffer twice"
Having said that, my advice to anxiety ridden family members of "just don't worry about it" isn't generally taken as useful or actionable advice, so I'll make an attempt at logic:
I think the nuclear arms race was scarier. It was literally designed as a city-destroying super-weapon. AI is at least designed as a profit-making service first, and anything it is then used for is secondary - which, to be fair, will include weapons / weaponisation, but at least it's not the primary raison d'être.
Additionally, I have a certain amount of faith in humanity's ability to deal with an existential crisis. There's an odd 'other side of the coin' to a government's desire to stay in power (which I don't usually trust) which can actually mean it will work surprisingly well to ensure it's own remaining viability in times of actual crisis. I'm hesitant to point to the COVID response, for reasons of political divisiveness of the resulting commentary, but governments generally took the advice of experts in the interest of maintaining a population to be able to govern over - which is better than the alternative.
Ultimately, I just don't worry about it. But I do pay attention to it. I worry about what I can control on a day-to-day basis, and don't really have a lot of mental space or energy for much else. I find that to be a healthy mental space to occupy.
That makes sense. You may as well be right. And I agree that the nuclear arms race was probably scarier in practice.
I think my main concern is the sheer velocity of this revolution. Between yesterday and today, we’re now seeing the news that an OpenAI internal model that’s “a step-function improvement” over Astra (!) on several benchmarks has solved the Navier-Stokes Millenium Prize Problem.
At this rate, I fear governments (slow as they are) might not even see it coming before it’s far too late. I also fear that AI researchers, despite being well-intentioned, might turn reckless under the pressures of the frontier labs that employ them to accelerate at all costs.
But following your logic, I agree, it’s probably not hopeless yet. And I do believe there are highly smart people with more power and influence than me that are keeping a close eye on this as well, and they won’t stand there with arms crossed if they believe doom is impending (so I hope).
Good reminder about worrying about what we can control, and thanks for sharing your perspective on this topic.