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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   31249 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of January 9, 2023

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So, this feels up the motte's alley- https://www.romecall.org/the-call/

I apologize for the Vatican's web design. TLDR important figures from the major Abrahamaic religions have signed a call for AI ethics which has also been signed onto by representatives from, among others, IBM, Microsoft, and the Italian government.

It's not 100% clear to me what any of this means, per se-

Now more than ever, we must guarantee an outlook in which AI is developed with a focus not on technology, but rather for the good of humanity and of the environment, of our common and shared home and of its human inhabitants, who are inextricably connected. In other words, a vision in which human beings and nature are at the heart of how digital innovation is developed, supported rather than gradually replaced by technologies that behave like rational actors but are in no way human. It is time to begin preparing for more technological future in which machines will have a more important role in the lives of human beings, but also a future in which it is clear that technological progress affirms the brilliance of the human race and remains dependent on its ethical integrity

and

in this context and at a national and international level, to promote “algor-ethics”, namely the ethical use of AI as defined by the following principles:

• Transparency: in principle, AI systems must be explainable;

• Inclusion: the needs of all human beings must be taken into consideration so that everyone can benefit and all individuals can be offered the best possible conditions to express themselves and develop;

• Responsibility: those who design and deploy the use of AI must proceed with responsibility and transparency;

• Impartiality: do not create or act according to bias, thus safeguarding fairness and human dignity;

• Reliability: AI systems must be able to work reliably;

• Security and privacy: AI systems must work securely and respect the privacy of users.

Are more like typical Francis-era Vatican boilerplate than anything concrete. But as a milestone it's probably the first time anyone even attempted to define AI ethics, isn't it? Anyways, I'd be interested in hearing from Motteizans who know a lot more about AI than I do(which, to be clear, is that it's hilarious to feed ChatbotGPT black nationalist conspiracy theories) about what this probably means.

Applause lights galore.

Yudkowsky was complaining about this meaningless stuff back in 2007

Here is the pretend speech he gave, consisting of nothing but applause lights:

I am here to propose to you today that we need to balance the risks and opportunities of advanced artificial intelligence. We should avoid the risks and, insofar as it is possible, realize the opportunities. We should not needlessly confront entirely unnecessary dangers. To achieve these goals, we must plan wisely and rationally. We should not act in fear and panic, or give in to technophobia; but neither should we act in blind enthusiasm. We should respect the interests of all parties with a stake in the Singularity. We must try to ensure that the benefits of advanced technologies accrue to as many individuals as possible, rather than being restricted to a few. We must try to avoid, as much as possible, violent conflicts using these technologies; and we must prevent massive destructive capability from falling into the hands of individuals. We should think through these issues before, not after, it is too late to do anything about them . . .

That's basically what they're saying in this. But some of it is even worse than that. I polluted my hard drive by downloading their 'paper':

This Call is a step forward with a view to growing with a common understanding and searching for a language and solutions we can share.

I swear I'm not making this up. It's not all that bad, but if there's only a little bit of shit in my meal, I won't eat the rest of it (even if you remove the shit). What sort of cook lets shit get into the meal? What else is there that I've missed? Who let Kamala Harris's speechwriters get their hands on a crayon?

Another thing I observed from the 'ethics' page is what looks like a potential 'three laws':

  1. AI must not discriminate against people

  2. AI must serve humanity

  3. AI must sustain the environment (including agriculture)

3a. AI must tell people when they're dealing with AI

3b. AI must not exploit people

Yes, they're not even organized enough to decide whether they want three requirements, four or five. I would've thought that telling AI to sustain the environment would include having it deal with agriculture - but I suppose that needed special emphasis. I would've thought serving humanity included not exploiting us.

It is time to begin preparing for more technological future in which machines will have a more important role in the lives of human beings, but also a future in which it is clear that technological progress affirms the brilliance of the human race and remains dependent on its ethical integrity.

A more technological future! A more technological future! I help proofread useless books that few will read and I do it to a higher standard than this. They can't even string a sentence together and they want to impose their ideology on the world for all eternity? I hope Gnon or some powerful entity punishes these people. I hope someday they realize just how out of their depth they are. Apologies for getting less and less courteous but this paper really does make me angrier the longer I spend with it.

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