Re:Scott Aaronson: Should GPT Exist?
by Udo on Wednesday February 22, 2023 @04:37AM
(#34893514)
> What's to stop GPT6 [...] from being used by terrorists to make deadly concoctions/devices?
Currently, nothing. It's fundamentally the same danger that comes from a single, intelligent terrorist who has a scientific background and access to all the world's research papers, and then GPTX is just a tool that further increases their productivity. This problem will eventually be compounded by AI engines that can actually reason about the world.
I've been wondering about this for a while: We're living in an age where the individual is more powerful than ever before. I could literally design a gene sequence or a protein on the computer, send that off to a lab, and for just a few hundred bucks back comes the IRL synthesized version. Using only moderately sophisticated equipment, one single person could create some truly horrific problems for the entire planet. However, terrorists are not doing that. Why? The answer to that question determines whether you are optimistic about the future or not.
The other question is what to do about it, or by extension, how the governments of the future will TRY to deal with it. I can't envision any version of "dealing with it" that does not end in a complete and inescapable nightmare world for the average citizen, arguably a worse world than the post-apocalyptic Mad Max scenario we're headed for if the totalitarian clamp-down doesn't happen.
Currently, nothing. It's fundamentally the same danger that comes from a single, intelligent terrorist who has a scientific background and access to all the world's research papers, and then GPTX is just a tool that further increases their productivity. This problem will eventually be compounded by AI engines that can actually reason about the world.
I've been wondering about this for a while: We're living in an age where the individual is more powerful than ever before. I could literally design a gene sequence or a protein on the computer, send that off to a lab, and for just a few hundred bucks back comes the IRL synthesized version. Using only moderately sophisticated equipment, one single person could create some truly horrific problems for the entire planet. However, terrorists are not doing that. Why? The answer to that question determines whether you are optimistic about the future or not.
The other question is what to do about it, or by extension, how the governments of the future will TRY to deal with it. I can't envision any version of "dealing with it" that does not end in a complete and inescapable nightmare world for the average citizen, arguably a worse world than the post-apocalyptic Mad Max scenario we're headed for if the totalitarian clamp-down doesn't happen.