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Notes -
I think this is a very naive take. For one thing hpc (high performance computing) has an absurd number of useful applications (I’ll pick drug discovery as one example) that have little or nothing to do with AI.
And unlike nuclear weapons, there isn’t any way to prohibit there use in warfare, it isn’t possible to nuke someone without the rest of the world noticing. Contrast this with AI, how could you prove that entity x is using ml for military purposes? Let’s say country x has a AI that analyzes satellite imagery perfectly, you wouldn’t ever be able to prove this they can just claim that they have very good analysts. You would effectively be creating a policy that military applications are the only allowed use for AI.
I assert that most people currently making a stink about this (I.e. Elon musk) are upset because they realize that they are behind the curve and want some breathing room to try and monopolize this technology.
I mean imagine these kinds of people suggesting the need for government licensesing for literally anything else.
Also to riff a little more on the analogy with nuclear materials (which I happen to think is a bad analogy, you need lots of gpus to build a super computer, a dangerous quantity of nuclear materials will fit in a backpack or purse): while it seems obvious to me that you need to heavily regulate nuclear materials it’s also possible to end up in situations like the one we have now where the only real innovation is in connection to the military (us subs and aircraft carriers are powered by amazing small modular reactors which the rest of society is only just now debating using else where).
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