

I spent a weekend at Google talking about charity. I came away worried - mazelife
http://www.vox.com/2015/8/10/9124145/effective-altruism-global-ai

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eevilspock
The article has nothing at all to do with Google.

~~~
mc32
But if it wasn't mentioned, fewer people would read the article.

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venning
_" No [nuclear] bombs have been detonated for 70 years."_

That is wildly inaccurate. At best, no nuclear bombs have been detonated _in
anger_ for 70 years.

A nuclear weapon was detonated during nearly every year between 1945 and 1996
[1], when the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty was adopted [2], over
2,000 weapons in total. Several nuclear weapons have been detonated since,
though the rate has decreased [3].

If the author is intending to show how a group of dedicated, thoughful
scientists can preempt disaster, this was a poor example.

[1]
[http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Library/Catalog](http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Library/Catalog)

[2] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comprehensive_Nuclear-Test-
Ban...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comprehensive_Nuclear-Test-Ban_Treaty)

[3] [https://www.ctbto.org/nuclear-testing/history-of-nuclear-
tes...](https://www.ctbto.org/nuclear-testing/history-of-nuclear-
testing/nuclear-testing-1945-today/)

EDIT: The article has been corrected.

~~~
mazelife
I'm not sure if you read incorrectly, or it the article was updated after your
comment, but I don't see that quote anywhere. What I do see is:

"Just as nuclear scientists developed norms of ethics and best practices that
have so far helped ensure that __no bombs have been used in attacks for 70
years __, AI researchers, he urged, should embrace a similar ethic, and not
just make cool things for the sake of making cool things. "

That said, attributing nuclear disarmament solely to "norms and ethics" of
scientists is pretty reductive on the part of the author. In fact there were
large nuclear disarmament movements in Japan, UK, and the US after WWII. It
was as much public pressure as anything that lead to the Partial Test Ban
treaty in '63\. Similar movements in the 80's led to further reduction in
arms. One million protestors marched in Central Park in '82, protesting the
nuclear arms race. That's a staggering number and indicative of how widespread
and popular the nuclear arms reduction movement was at the time. Comparing
that to the "Anti-AI" movement—which just about everyone would agree is pretty
niche—is problematic at best.

~~~
venning
The article was updated. I have to imagine many people pointed out the error.

Good observation on the disarmament movements. I wonder if "nuclear holocaust"
qualifies as an "existential risk" for those who consider AI to be one.

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Sideloader
For these guys rational thinking has become a kind of solipsist secular
religion and, like with all religions, its adherents are seriously delusional.

~~~
vonklaus
Rational and delusional are nearly antonyms.

~~~
carapace
Rational/irrational and delusion/fidelity are incommensurable.

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juliangregorian
Silicon Valley billionaires have proved repeatedly that they are nothing more
than overgrown teenagers. I hope that they do achieve interstellar
colonization. This planet will be better without them.

~~~
icebraining
As far as I know, of the five panellists only Musk is a billionaire - the rest
are researchers/academics (Nate Soares is an edge case, but still, as the
executive director of MIRI, I doubt he's rolling in cash - the whole
organization has less than $2M/y in revenue).

