No, because whether it’s a good idea to ban them on the basis of their dangerousness depends on 1) whether they are dangerous (which they are experts on) and 2) whether it’s a good idea to ban things that are dangerous (which is a political question that they are not experts on). And the latter part is where most of the substantial disagreement happens.
We already have things that we know are dangerous, like nuclear weapons, and they aren’t banned. A lot of people would like them banned, of course, but we at least understand that that’s a political question, and “I know it’s dangerous” doesn’t make someone an expert on the political question. Just like you or I don’t become experts on banning nuclear weapons just because we know nuclear weapons are dangerous, these guys don’t become experts on banning AI weapons just because they know AI weapons are dangerous.
I’m sorry this is just silly. You are saying no one should have opinions on policy except politicians? Politicians are experts on what policies are good?
I think they are more like people who are experts at getting elected and getting funded. For making actual policy, they usually just resort to listening to experts in the relevant field; economists, businessmen, and in this case robotics experts.
The robotics experts are telling them “hey this shit is getting really scary and could be stopped if you just stop funding it and discourage other countries from doing so.” It is of course up to actual politicians to debate it and vote on it, but they are giving their relevant opinion.
Which isn’t at all unprecedented, we do the same thing with countless other military technologies, like chemical weapons and nukes. Or even simple things like land mines and hollow point bullets. It’s not like they are asking for totally new policies. They are more like, “hey this thing you are funding is really similar to these other things you have forbidden.”
And nukes are banned btw. We don’t make any more of them, we are trying to get rid of most of the ones we have made. We don’t let other countries make them. We don’t test them or let anyone else test them. And no one is allowed to actually use them.
You are saying no one should have opinions on policy except politicians? Politicians are experts on what policies are good?
I’m saying that nobody like that should have opinions as experts, that claim they know better because they’re experts. Their opinions are as good as yours or mine. But you and I don’t put out press releases that people pay any attention to, based on our “expertise”.
Furthermore, when politicians do it, everyone is aware that they are acting as politicians, and can evaluate them as politicians. The “experts” are pretending that their conclusion comes from their expertise, not from their politics, when in fact all the noteworthy parts of their answer come from their politics.
This is no better than if, say, doctors were to put out a press release that condemns illegal immigration on the grounds that illegal immigrants have a high crime rate, and doctors have to treat crime victims and know how bad crime is.
The robotics experts are telling them “hey this shit is getting really scary and could be stopped if you just stop funding it and discourage other countries from doing so.”
Whether that actually works, particularly the “discourage other countries” part, is a question they have no expertise on.
No, because whether it’s a good idea to ban them on the basis of their dangerousness depends on 1) whether they are dangerous (which they are experts on) and 2) whether it’s a good idea to ban things that are dangerous (which is a political question that they are not experts on). And the latter part is where most of the substantial disagreement happens.
We already have things that we know are dangerous, like nuclear weapons, and they aren’t banned. A lot of people would like them banned, of course, but we at least understand that that’s a political question, and “I know it’s dangerous” doesn’t make someone an expert on the political question. Just like you or I don’t become experts on banning nuclear weapons just because we know nuclear weapons are dangerous, these guys don’t become experts on banning AI weapons just because they know AI weapons are dangerous.
I’m sorry this is just silly. You are saying no one should have opinions on policy except politicians? Politicians are experts on what policies are good?
I think they are more like people who are experts at getting elected and getting funded. For making actual policy, they usually just resort to listening to experts in the relevant field; economists, businessmen, and in this case robotics experts.
The robotics experts are telling them “hey this shit is getting really scary and could be stopped if you just stop funding it and discourage other countries from doing so.” It is of course up to actual politicians to debate it and vote on it, but they are giving their relevant opinion.
Which isn’t at all unprecedented, we do the same thing with countless other military technologies, like chemical weapons and nukes. Or even simple things like land mines and hollow point bullets. It’s not like they are asking for totally new policies. They are more like, “hey this thing you are funding is really similar to these other things you have forbidden.”
And nukes are banned btw. We don’t make any more of them, we are trying to get rid of most of the ones we have made. We don’t let other countries make them. We don’t test them or let anyone else test them. And no one is allowed to actually use them.
I’m saying that nobody like that should have opinions as experts, that claim they know better because they’re experts. Their opinions are as good as yours or mine. But you and I don’t put out press releases that people pay any attention to, based on our “expertise”.
Furthermore, when politicians do it, everyone is aware that they are acting as politicians, and can evaluate them as politicians. The “experts” are pretending that their conclusion comes from their expertise, not from their politics, when in fact all the noteworthy parts of their answer come from their politics.
This is no better than if, say, doctors were to put out a press release that condemns illegal immigration on the grounds that illegal immigrants have a high crime rate, and doctors have to treat crime victims and know how bad crime is.
Whether that actually works, particularly the “discourage other countries” part, is a question they have no expertise on.