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To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand Yudkowsky. The logic is extremely subtle, and without a solid grasp of theoretical physics most of the arguments will go over a typical viewer's head. There's also Eliezer’s transhumanist outlook, which is deftly woven into his personality- his personal philosophy draws heavily from science-fiction literature, for instance. The rationalists understand this stuff; they have the intellectual capacity to truly appreciate the depths of these arguments, to realise that they're not just true- they say something deep about REALITY. As a consequence people who dislike Yudkowsky truly ARE idiots- of course they wouldn't appreciate, for instance, the mathematics behind Eliezer’s probabilistic catchphrase "Rational agents don’t update in a predictable direction,” which itself is a cryptic reference to Bayesian statistics. I'm smirking right now just imagining one of those addlepated simpletons scratching their heads in confusion as Big Yud’s genius intellect unfolds itself on their laptop screens. What fools.. how I pity them..
Okay okay, I know that pasta is typically used to make fun of people, but I really think it’s true here. Imagine trying to explain to common people the danger of nuclear weapons before Trinity. If they don’t understand the concept of nuclear binding energy, and the raw power of uncontrolled nuclear fission has not yet been demonstrated, you’re not going to be able to get through to a skeptic unless you explain the entire field of nuclear physics. It is trivial that an uncontrolled superintelligent optimization process kills us. All of the interesting disagreements are about whether or not attempts at control will fail. That is why Eliezer wanted to steer the conversation that direction.
Nukes actually seem pretty easy to explain to anyone that has a passing familiarity with explosives and poison. Really big bomb that poisons the area for a few decades.
I think ops original point stands pretty well, that could get good mileage out of transferring understanding from existing stuff to explain the danger of AI. Terrorism is one of the easiest goto examples. Really rich terrorist, with top tier talents in all fields.
Sure, you can describe a nuclear bomb like that, but could you explain them why it would be likely to work, and why it is something they should find likely and concerning, and not just a lurid fantasy?
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Except it doesn't even do that unless specifically made to do so by triggering a surface burst instead of the normal air burst. See f.ex. the post apocalyptic wasteland known as Hiroshima (current pop. 1.2 million).
Limiting its destructive power at that!
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Ah, so it's even easier to explain.
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