The Anarchist Cookbook taken to a whole new level. Yes, this is terrifying. And, I suspect that people who are deeply interested in biological weapons would find this info somewhere else if not for AI. Stupid scary that it is easier for someone to casually dabble in it.

I'm so depressed these last two days of recent news that wiping things out doesn't sound horrible to me. (I'm sure I don't truly mean this but oy vey, things are heavy.)

Wow. In a roundabout way, we did just live through this kind of catastrophic biological event in the last recent years with all the death and our world shut down...and with actual real evil people behind it all...instead of chatbots. So, yeah...it's scary.

Or you could post "86 the chickens" on social media because everyone knows that these are kill instructions. You just need enough followers to carry out your wishes.

We have to stop normalizing and participating in the use of AI when we have a choice to not use it.

💕pal

We have to stop normalizing and participating in the use of AI when we have a choice to not use it

And yet, that is part of the trap. I went to a meeting where the presenter (who is against the misuse of AI) said that properly used, it is very helpful diagnostically. --Because when making a diagnosis, you already have to know what it probably is.

What you have to do, though is know exactly what to ask it. His illustration was like this:

If you just list all the signs and symptoms you see, you will get exactly the same results that you have already considered, "it might be this it might be that" (so no help).

But if you prime it and say "these are the signs and symptoms, we have already considered a, b, c, d and ruled them out. Other complaints by the patient include___, and this lab value was also outside normal limits. As a diagnostition, what do you conclude based upon this information?" And it will typically come up with the correct answer or a couple more possibilities and paths of inquiry. He said he diagnosed a rare condition for which the patient had seen four medical specialists, and it ended up diagnosing a rare condition most likely which would be diagnosed by an oral medicine specialist (who usually a dentist). And he said "I had learned about this, I knew about it in the back of my head, but in 30 years of practice I had never seen it so it did not come to mind." (and it obviously did not come to mind for four or five other people).

So unfortunately once that box is opened it can't be closed, and it will probably be considered not up to the standard of practice (in any number of professions) if you avoid using it altogether.

But, as he said, used incorrectly, which is how many people use it, it can be very problematic.

One thing people can do is avoid using Google assistant or whatever it's called, and Alexa and Siri and such. They listen to you all the time, because they are trained to respond when you ask. And I don't think you want a device in your house listening to everything you say.

I've mentioned this before, but check out this book If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies, written by two AI experts. " In 2023, hundreds of AI luminaries signed an open letter warning that artificial intelligence poses a serious risk of human extinction." The authors are two of those signatories. I haven't been able to bring myself to actually read it, though my son is. The title tells me all I feel I need to know.

It seems like things are rapidly flying out of control, doesn't it? So many gov't entities we took for granted to regulate corporate and public behavior and protect us from harm are being systematically dismantled.

Also not sure how many folks realize that AI is used by programmers/developers to configure all kinds of things - like the websites and apps we use daily for managing life.

AI has been being developed and used for decades, It is now being introduced through the WWW and is more accessible, but it isn't new.

I am a data scientist and study data points to identify areas where health care outcomes can be improved.

I am asking you to think about COVID-19 and how AI, if heeded, could have chaged the outcome.

BlueDot is a Toronto-based AI startup that gained international fame for being among the first in the world to identify the COVID-19 threat

On December 31, 2019 BlueDot's algorithm flagged a cluster of "unusual pneumonia" cases centered around a market in Wuhan, China.

Within two hours of detection, BlueDot sent a warning to its clients—including public health officials in 12 countries, airlines, and frontline hospitals. BlueDot used global airline ticketing data from over 4,000 airports. By analyzing the travel of 800,000 people leaving Wuhan, they accurately predicted the first cities outside of mainland China that would see outbreaks—including Bangkok, Taipei, Seoul, and Tokyo.

This alert went out six days before the U.S. CDC issued its warning (January 6) and nine days before the World Health Organization (WHO) released its official statement (January 9).

By December 31, the virus was already spreading locally in Wuhan, but it hadn't yet "seeded" the global hubs that allowed it to explode. Stopping travel then would have turned a global catastrophe into a localized outbreak that could have been managed with regional aid and strict quarantine.

Instead we largely ignored Covid in the US until the first case was diagnosed on March 20, 2020. (3 months after the first warning). I can't explain why our public officials chose to protect our economy over protecting our lives, but that is outside of the AI conversation.

I am asking you to think about COVID-19 and how AI, if heeded, could have chaged the outcome.

There is no doubt in my mind that IA can reap huge benefits for humanity. Especially in your field, Jennifer. I don't think that should stop us from mentioning issues having to do with AI that make us uncomfortable, and these kill instructions are downright scary to me.

Our lives and our political parties seem to be becoming more and more adversarial. I wish that the great minds of our generation could work together more to reap benefits for humanity at the same time protecting humanity from AI threats both with guard rails and teaching proper use.

So unfortunately once that box is opened it can't be closed, and it will probably be considered not up to the standard of practice (in any number of professions) if you avoid using it altogether.

But, as he said, used incorrectly, which is how many people use it, it can be very problematic.

I agree.

Unfortunately AI is like any other tool. Used correctly it can be an incredible boon...used incorrectly and it could be deadly. A hammer can build a house or kill a person. Just like with the internet, it puts so much information at our finger tips...some use it to advance knowledge and do good, some use it to spread evil propaganda and violence...mostly it's used to watch dumb cat videos. I've become fatalistic now. Humans are so busy destroying the planet anyway, we are probably past the greenhouse tipping point. Maybe if AI takes over, it can save us ... or speed our destruction. And then there's the Cassandra effect, where AI may tell us how to save the planet and ourselves, but no one will listen. All I can say is, I'm glad I'm nearing the end of my life and no children or grands to worry about as we head into the abyss.