But, in the current situation (or even a few years from now) would it be possible for a smart kid in a basement to build an AI from scratch? Isn’t it something that still requires lots of progress to build on? See my reply to Qiaochu.
The question is whether it would be possible to ban further research and stop progress (open, universally accessible and buildable-upon progress), in time for AGI to be still far away enough that an isolated group in a basement will have no chance of achieving it on its own.
If by “basement” you mean “anywhere, working in the interests of any organization that wants to gain a technology advantage over the rest of the world,” then sure, I agree that this is a good question. So what do you think the answer is?
I have no idea! I am not a specialist of any kind in AI development. That is why I posted in the Stupid Questions thread asking “has MIRI considered this and made a careful analysis?” instead of making a top-level post saying “MIRI should be doing this”. It may seem that in the subthread I am actively arguing for strategy (b), but what I am doing is pushing back against what I see as insufficient answers on such an important question.
But, in the current situation (or even a few years from now) would it be possible for a smart kid in a basement to build an AI from scratch? Isn’t it something that still requires lots of progress to build on? See my reply to Qiaochu.
So will progress just stop for as long as we want it to?
The question is whether it would be possible to ban further research and stop progress (open, universally accessible and buildable-upon progress), in time for AGI to be still far away enough that an isolated group in a basement will have no chance of achieving it on its own.
If by “basement” you mean “anywhere, working in the interests of any organization that wants to gain a technology advantage over the rest of the world,” then sure, I agree that this is a good question. So what do you think the answer is?
I have no idea! I am not a specialist of any kind in AI development. That is why I posted in the Stupid Questions thread asking “has MIRI considered this and made a careful analysis?” instead of making a top-level post saying “MIRI should be doing this”. It may seem that in the subthread I am actively arguing for strategy (b), but what I am doing is pushing back against what I see as insufficient answers on such an important question.
So… what do you think the answer is?
If you want my answers, you’ll need to humor me.