The x-risk of super intelligence going rogue must be addressed, and mint trillion dollar companies in the process. Plus: How workers can beat the tech oligarchy
It's SO obvious what Altman et al are doing it's mind-boggling that so many intelligent people are taking ANYTHING they say at face value, absolutely stunning!
Thank you, Brian. I still don't understand why these companies are allowed to operate outside the law. Why are they not prosecuted for crimes they admit to? Is the idea that since humans are no longer in charge, none can be held accountable? Are AI executives and investors just innocent bystanders now, betting on the come but otherwise disengaged, having handed off control of their companies to non-human "agents?"
Is it worth risking mayhem not to mention squandering resources and time that might otherwise be devoted to saving the planet from climate change. . . on this? Is it too late to just unplug? Should we stop picketing data centers and start breaking them? Hammers up!
All this obsession with who stands to gain financially as a motivation for the "doomer" scenario is, IMO, a distraction from the bigger picture - what can this technology do, what has it done already, and what might it well be able to do if it continues to be developed ...
What is necessary for its survival and development - Indeed, we must pay attention to "the man behind the curtain", but attention to what he is doing, not why he is doing it ... The "Cloud" has been revealed to be a bunch of humongous "data centers" powered by a gazillion chips - both, in their construction, production, and operation, require, as you say, not only the "squandering of resources", but vast amounts of air, water and land pollution - not to mention energy consumption - and far from helping to combat climate change and "cure cancer" - they are contributing to both ....
What am I missing here - when the author of BITM, and Tech Won't Save Us, seems to be stepping away from his motto "Hammers Up!" ...
Indeed it is time to "unplug" ourselves and pull the plug on this technology - will it work? It better ...
Yeah, I wondered that about Brian too. Not sure where he's coming from on AI. I have huge respect for him (are you listening, Brian?) and hope he'll elaborate on this.
As for the profit motive, my son-in-law runs marketing and sales for Anthropic and is in charge of its IPO. Guys like him have invested so much in their miracle product, they can't be objective about it. . . so they just don't say anything in hopes that they'll get the payday they "worked so hard for" before either AI or the AI bubble or both blow(s) up.
You might appreciate this page of guidance for my students in the AI and Ethics class this year. This is year 3 for a semester-long ELA course for high school seniors.
We watched a You Tube video about the Anthropic "blackmailing AI agent" scenario in 2025, a video recommended to me by a student because they were both bothered by the content and wondering how true it was.
Week one of class this year, we watched the video and studied the language to set the intellectual floor for discussion about the AI Hype cycle industry. Here's the 'worksheet' students used:
Moving Through AI Hype:
Anthropomorphizing, Catastrophizing, Monetizing
Text: (write the name of the creator/outlet/author, title)
Monetizing: do you see evidence directly stated, or can you determine how the text you see is connected to someone’s direct or indirect profit - in wealth, power, honor, or leisure? Try to name who benefits from monetizing this text?
Merriam Webster's Dictionary of English Usage (see page 131) says that the phrase as is is always singular, regardless of the number of items. As are is incorrect, but there is nothing wrong with using as they are. I think as is is most commonly used to do with the sale of something. ("I bought a used car, as is.")
“One path leads to a world where power is concentrated, decisions are opaque, and people feel that the most important technology of their lifetime is something being done to them.
Red Alert: OpenAI is poised to cross an AI safety redline.:
The product roadmap has acquired a mythology department
It's SO obvious what Altman et al are doing it's mind-boggling that so many intelligent people are taking ANYTHING they say at face value, absolutely stunning!
At this point, the safety case and the marketing case share a lot of vocabulary
Thank you, Brian. I still don't understand why these companies are allowed to operate outside the law. Why are they not prosecuted for crimes they admit to? Is the idea that since humans are no longer in charge, none can be held accountable? Are AI executives and investors just innocent bystanders now, betting on the come but otherwise disengaged, having handed off control of their companies to non-human "agents?"
Is it worth risking mayhem not to mention squandering resources and time that might otherwise be devoted to saving the planet from climate change. . . on this? Is it too late to just unplug? Should we stop picketing data centers and start breaking them? Hammers up!
Thank you, Bonnie!
All this obsession with who stands to gain financially as a motivation for the "doomer" scenario is, IMO, a distraction from the bigger picture - what can this technology do, what has it done already, and what might it well be able to do if it continues to be developed ...
What is necessary for its survival and development - Indeed, we must pay attention to "the man behind the curtain", but attention to what he is doing, not why he is doing it ... The "Cloud" has been revealed to be a bunch of humongous "data centers" powered by a gazillion chips - both, in their construction, production, and operation, require, as you say, not only the "squandering of resources", but vast amounts of air, water and land pollution - not to mention energy consumption - and far from helping to combat climate change and "cure cancer" - they are contributing to both ....
What am I missing here - when the author of BITM, and Tech Won't Save Us, seems to be stepping away from his motto "Hammers Up!" ...
Indeed it is time to "unplug" ourselves and pull the plug on this technology - will it work? It better ...
Yeah, I wondered that about Brian too. Not sure where he's coming from on AI. I have huge respect for him (are you listening, Brian?) and hope he'll elaborate on this.
As for the profit motive, my son-in-law runs marketing and sales for Anthropic and is in charge of its IPO. Guys like him have invested so much in their miracle product, they can't be objective about it. . . so they just don't say anything in hopes that they'll get the payday they "worked so hard for" before either AI or the AI bubble or both blow(s) up.
You might appreciate this page of guidance for my students in the AI and Ethics class this year. This is year 3 for a semester-long ELA course for high school seniors.
We watched a You Tube video about the Anthropic "blackmailing AI agent" scenario in 2025, a video recommended to me by a student because they were both bothered by the content and wondering how true it was.
Week one of class this year, we watched the video and studied the language to set the intellectual floor for discussion about the AI Hype cycle industry. Here's the 'worksheet' students used:
Moving Through AI Hype:
Anthropomorphizing, Catastrophizing, Monetizing
Text: (write the name of the creator/outlet/author, title)
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Your name, today’s date, best song you heard today OR best after school snack for today
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Please add brief notes where you think you see/hear any of the techniques often used to grab attention from a reader/viewer.
Anthropomorphizing: Word choice, choice of visuals
(to give an inhuman thing human qualities)
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Catastrophizing: Word choice, choice of visuals, added sound - music and/or effects
(using hyperbole to emphasize urgency, often to gather attention or instigate action)
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Monetizing: do you see evidence directly stated, or can you determine how the text you see is connected to someone’s direct or indirect profit - in wealth, power, honor, or leisure? Try to name who benefits from monetizing this text?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Trump drops 'artificial,' the labs' 'rogue' drops the developer. Both leave the maker out.
Merriam Webster's Dictionary of English Usage (see page 131) says that the phrase as is is always singular, regardless of the number of items. As are is incorrect, but there is nothing wrong with using as they are. I think as is is most commonly used to do with the sale of something. ("I bought a used car, as is.")
“One path leads to a world where power is concentrated, decisions are opaque, and people feel that the most important technology of their lifetime is something being done to them.
Red Alert: OpenAI is poised to cross an AI safety redline.:
https://garymarcus.substack.com/p/red-alert-openai-is-poised-to-cross?r=8tdk6
Open-source is NOT the same as open-weight:
https://garymarcus.substack.com/p/open-source-is-not-the-same-as-open
Sad news indeed about the narrative taking over.
Narrative literacy should probably ship with the model card