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Elite Scientists Have Told the Pentagon That AI Won't Threaten Humanity (vice.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Motherboard: A new report authored by a group of independent U.S. scientists advising the U.S. Dept. of Defense (DoD) on artificial intelligence (AI) claims that perceived existential threats to humanity posed by the technology, such as drones seen by the public as killer robots, are at best "uninformed." Still, the scientists acknowledge that AI will be integral to most future DoD systems and platforms, but AI that could act like a human "is at most a small part of AI's relevance to the DoD mission." Instead, a key application area of AI for the DoD is in augmenting human performance. Perspectives on Research in Artificial Intelligence and Artificial General Intelligence Relevant to DoD, first reported by Steven Aftergood at the Federation of American Scientists, has been researched and written by scientists belonging to JASON, the historically secretive organization that counsels the U.S. government on scientific matters. Outlining the potential use cases of AI for the DoD, the JASON scientists make sure to point out that the growing public suspicion of AI is "not always based on fact," especially when it comes to military technologies. Highlighting SpaceX boss Elon Musk's opinion that AI "is our biggest existential threat" as an example of this, the report argues that these purported threats "do not align with the most rapidly advancing current research directions of AI as a field, but rather spring from dire predictions about one small area of research within AI, Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)." AGI, as the report describes, is the pursuit of developing machines that are capable of long-term decision making and intent, i.e. thinking and acting like a real human. "On account of this specific goal, AGI has high visibility, disproportionate to its size or present level of success," the researchers say.

14 of 169 comments (clear)

  1. AI does what AI is programmed to do by wierd_w · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It does exactly what it is programmed/trained to do, nothing more, nothing less.

    The DANGER of AI, especially when integrated into weapons systems, is that the people pushing for it, dont understand that the risks of the AI deciding a friendly is an enemy because of their wearing the wrong colors, (or, enemies getting free passes for the same) IS VERY REAL.

    Similar with putting AI in charge of certain kinds of situations, where its programmed methodologies would result in horrible clusterfucks as it maximizes its strategy.

    No, AI in a killbot *IS* very dangerous. Just not in the "Kill all humans(install robot overlord!)" way. Instead it is more the "human does not meet my (programmed impossible) description of friendly, and thus is enemy combatant, Kill the human" way.

    1. Re:AI does what AI is programmed to do by jgotts · · Score: 2

      I'm not afraid of the AI programmed by MIT or the US Department of Defense. I am afraid of the AI programmed by Microsoft India outsourced to Microsoft India's Bangladesh office, and then outsourced once again to programmers who one generation ago were subsistence herders in sub-Saharan Africa.

      Programming jobs are continually sent down the chain to the least qualified individuals possible, and the AI that escapes humanity won't emerge from our most advanced computer science labs. It will leverage humanity's greatest weakness, greed. The AI that enslaves us all will be unleashed upon the world by people who should have never been given the code in the first place, but were given it anyway to pad some executive's salary.

    2. Re:AI does what AI is programmed to do by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I'm more afraid of so-called 'AI' in so-called 'self driving autonomous cars' killing me when I'm on my bike than I am of any so-called military 'AI'. As typical these things are getting rushed to market, working just 'good enough', and with the blessing of the manufacturers' legal department, who assure them that the 'risk is low, and we can handle any settlements for injury or wrongful death'.

    3. Re:AI does what AI is programmed to do by admin7087 · · Score: 2

      It does exactly what it is programmed/trained to do, nothing more, nothing less.

      That's not even true for contemporary AI - not in the sense that the programmers fully understand what it is programmed to do or are able to predict its actions -, and it's certainly nonsense for any genuine AI, which is what this debate is about. We're talking about autonomous, self-learning, open systems. These can be as unpredictable and incomprehensible as humans. AI != computer programs using fancy programming techniques.

    4. Re:AI does what AI is programmed to do by geekmux · · Score: 2

      It does exactly what it is programmed/trained to do, nothing more, nothing less.

      The DANGER of AI, especially when integrated into weapons systems, is that the people pushing for it, dont understand that the risks of the AI deciding a friendly is an enemy because of their wearing the wrong colors, (or, enemies getting free passes for the same) IS VERY REAL.

      Similar with putting AI in charge of certain kinds of situations, where its programmed methodologies would result in horrible clusterfucks as it maximizes its strategy.

      No, AI in a killbot *IS* very dangerous. Just not in the "Kill all humans(install robot overlord!)" way. Instead it is more the "human does not meet my (programmed impossible) description of friendly, and thus is enemy combatant, Kill the human" way.

      You're exactly right.

      AI does exactly what it's programmed to do, which is the exact reason that hacking is THE threat to be concerned about today.

      Attach a weapon that can take human lives to that hacked system, and now the danger is VERY REAL.

    5. Re: AI does what AI is programmed to do by duckintheface · · Score: 2

      No, that's the problem. AI does not do what it is programmed by people to do. Because it is self programming. And we don't know what it is programmed to do unless it tells us.

      Your premise is like saying, children do what their parents tell them to. No, they grow up and change their behavior iteratively.

      --
      "He took a duck in the face at 250 knots." -- William Gibson, Pattern Recognition
  2. Re:The right people for the job? by Hognoxious · · Score: 2

    I think he's the only person Trump hasn't mocked.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  3. Re:Melania Looked RAVISHING Today by PopeRatzo · · Score: 2

    I'd like to grab her by the pussy

    You can't afford that pussy.

    But you can rent one just like it at certain Moscow hotels.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
  4. Re:That is correct by starless · · Score: 2

    ... there are some things that are simply not possible in this universe no matter how many tweaks and improvements you try to make. Self-aware sentient AI is one, small portal Mr. Fusion type reactor that gives useful net surplus energy is probably another.

    We do already have a "proof of concept" in that in the universe we have self-aware sentient entities consuming only 100 W and massing (very roughly) ~100 kg (i.e. us).
    On the other hand, we know of no natural fusion reactors producing significant energy that mass less than about 1/10 of a solar mass.

  5. Re:The right people for the job? by wierd_w · · Score: 2

    No, they hilariously told him to "speak English" after he called Trump a "dangerous demagogue".

    The resulting reply, "Trump, Bad man." was epic.

  6. Nothing to worry about by MouseR · · Score: 3, Funny

    In the absence of real intelligence, I'm not worried about artificial one.

  7. Re:They are right by the current definition of AI by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Today too many dumb people consider a well written computer program to be AI, like Alexa. Alexa will not threaten humanity because it's really not 'artificial intelligence' to start with, it's just a clever piece of software.

    FTFY

    We are nowhere near having real 'AI' yet and won't be for decades.

  8. I see .... by ganv · · Score: 2

    I see...Artificial general intelligence is hard so anyone worrying about its consequences is uninformed. Wait. What? And as long as it doesn't have artificial general intelligence, there shouldn't be any problems with giving a machine control over lethal weapons. Wait. What? Maybe instead artificial general intelligence is a long term existential threat independent of whether current technology is particularly close to achieving it, and Elon Musk knows a little more than they give him credit for. And maybe the transfer of decision making about the use of lethal weapons to machines is always a very bad idea. Unless you hope to make money from selling such devices to the military. In which case, this report sounds like an excellent strategy.

  9. Re:Do Elite Scientist get a union? by dbIII · · Score: 2

    I find your comment very amusing because when Google worked on their initial page ranking algorithm they were inspired by a thing on microfilm called the "Science Citation Index".
    We're now at a point where the thing that inspired something is being described as being like the thing it inspired.