Re:Sam and Greg's response to OpenAI Safety researcher claims
by Dalewyn on Sunday May 19, 2024 @04:34PM
(#40409556)
Any of the major military superpowers have more than enough conventional boomsticks to end all human life. It might take slightly longer than if nukes were used, but that's hardly comforting.
[ Parent
| on HN ]
Re:Sam and Greg's response to OpenAI Safety researcher claims
by comp_throw7 on Monday May 20, 2024 @02:02AM
(#40412718)
(For confused readers: no, they don't. Not even the nuclear stockpiles would be enough to cause human extinction, even if they were turned deliberately to that end.)
Re:Sam and Greg's response to OpenAI Safety researcher claims
by brokenmachine on Tuesday May 21, 2024 @01:58AM
(#40424666)
I absolutely believe that if there was a project where every nuclear weapon was systematically used for the purpose of making humans extinct, it would be successful.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobalt_bomb
>After one half-life of 5.27 years, only half of the cobalt-60 will have decayed, and the dose rate in the affected area would be 5 Sv/hour. At this dose rate, a person exposed to the radiation would receive a lethal dose in 1 hour.
>After 10 half-lives (about 53 years), the dose rate would have decayed to around 10 mSv/hour. At this point, a healthy person could spend up to 4 days exposed to the fallout with no immediate effects.
People can't stay in bunkers for 20 years at a time, just to emerge into a radiated hellscape.