“Imagine that Facebook and Netflix have two separate AIs that compete over hours that each user spends on their own platform. They want users to spend the maximum amount of minutes on Facebook or Netflix, respectively.
The Facebook AI discovers that posts that spoil popular TV shows result in people spending more time on the platform. It doesn’t know what spoilers are, only that they cause people to spend more time on Facebook. But in reality, they’re ruining the entertainment value from excellent shows on Netflix.
Even worse, the Netflix AI discovers that people stop watching shows with plot twists, so it promotes more boring shows with no plot twists. They end up on the front page and make the most profit due to exposure.
The problem gets discovered and fixed three years later, but by that time it’s too late; Facebook has a reputation for ruining TV shows and many people consciously avoid using it, and meanwhile Netflix has spent 3 years punishing producers and scriptwriters for filming excellent stories with plot twists. Neither company wants this. It takes 3 years for human engineers to discover and fix it, and the whole time, many more misguided AI decisions have popped up.
The supervision required for AI is immense, for the simplest tasks and the simplest systems. AI just keeps finding new ways to cheat”
“Imagine that Facebook and Netflix have two separate AIs that compete over hours that each user spends on their own platform. They want users to spend the maximum amount of minutes on Facebook or Netflix, respectively.
The Facebook AI discovers that posts that spoil popular TV shows result in people spending more time on the platform. It doesn’t know what spoilers are, only that they cause people to spend more time on Facebook. But in reality, they’re ruining the entertainment value from excellent shows on Netflix.
Even worse, the Netflix AI discovers that people stop watching shows with plot twists, so it promotes more boring shows with no plot twists. They end up on the front page and make the most profit due to exposure.
The problem gets discovered and fixed three years later, but by that time it’s too late; Facebook has a reputation for ruining TV shows and many people consciously avoid using it, and meanwhile Netflix has spent 3 years punishing producers and scriptwriters for filming excellent stories with plot twists. Neither company wants this. It takes 3 years for human engineers to discover and fix it, and the whole time, many more misguided AI decisions have popped up.
The supervision required for AI is immense, for the simplest tasks and the simplest systems. AI just keeps finding new ways to cheat”