This is also a plausible route for spreading awareness of AI safety issues to the left. The downside is that it might make AI safety a “leftest” issue if a conservative analogy is not introduced at the same time.
the problem is most folks I’ve talked to on the left with this pitch are even more skeptical of the idea that high capability intelligent software can exist. they generally seem to assume the current level is the peak and progress is stuck. solving that would make progress communicating it to them.
it’s the full range of things people say, just a higher ratio of people saying them on the left, in my experience. Also, re: making it a leftist issue—right now it’s a liberal issue, and only a liberal issue; liberal CEOs have offended both right-wingers and leftists regarding AI safety, so it’s possible that at least getting the actual left on board might be promising somehow. Not sure. Seems like this discussion should be had on less wrong itself first. I’ve certainly seen leftists worrying about ai aligned to megacorporations.
It may also be worth noting how a sufficiently advanced “algorithm” could start making its own “decisions”; for example, a search/display algorithm that has been built to maximize advertisement revenue, if given enough resources and no moral boundaries, may suppress search results that contain negative opinions on itself, promote taking down competitors, and/or preferentially display news and arguments that are in favor of allowing Algorithms more power. Skepticism about The Algorithm is a cause many political parties are already able to agree on; the possibility of The Algorithm going FOOM might accelerate public discussions about the development of AI in general.
This is also a plausible route for spreading awareness of AI safety issues to the left. The downside is that it might make AI safety a “leftest” issue if a conservative analogy is not introduced at the same time.
the problem is most folks I’ve talked to on the left with this pitch are even more skeptical of the idea that high capability intelligent software can exist. they generally seem to assume the current level is the peak and progress is stuck. solving that would make progress communicating it to them.
Do they think it’s a hardware/cost issue? Or do they think that “true” intelligence is beyond our abilities?
it’s the full range of things people say, just a higher ratio of people saying them on the left, in my experience. Also, re: making it a leftist issue—right now it’s a liberal issue, and only a liberal issue; liberal CEOs have offended both right-wingers and leftists regarding AI safety, so it’s possible that at least getting the actual left on board might be promising somehow. Not sure. Seems like this discussion should be had on less wrong itself first. I’ve certainly seen leftists worrying about ai aligned to megacorporations.
It may also be worth noting how a sufficiently advanced “algorithm” could start making its own “decisions”; for example, a search/display algorithm that has been built to maximize advertisement revenue, if given enough resources and no moral boundaries, may suppress search results that contain negative opinions on itself, promote taking down competitors, and/or preferentially display news and arguments that are in favor of allowing Algorithms more power. Skepticism about The Algorithm is a cause many political parties are already able to agree on; the possibility of The Algorithm going FOOM might accelerate public discussions about the development of AI in general.