= 27d567bc2d48d9f40e9ccc20ea370b15)
thomblake comments on Open Thread: September 2009 - Less Wrong
You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.
= 783df68a0f980790206b9ea87794c5b6)
Loading…= b715d02e85f7b3b4ae65ca3d3e450868)
Subscribe to RSS Feed
Powered by Reddit
= f037147d6e6c911a85753b9abdedda8d)
You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.
Comments (179)
Normally testing is done in an offline "testing" mode - using a test harness or sandbox arrangement. Tests themselves are consequently harmless.
Of course it is possible for the world to present eventualities that are not modelled by the test suite - but that's usually no big deal.
I don't think it is realistic to confine machine intelligence to the domain of provably correct software. Anyone trying that approach would rather obviously be last to the marketplace with a product.
I seriously doubt whether paranoid fantasies about DOOM will hinder progress towards machine intelligence significantly. I expect that the prophets of DOOM will be widely ignored. This isn't exactly the first time that people have claimed that the world is going to end.
Either massive progress or DOOM will be wrought by those ignoring the DOOM-prophets; either the dynamists win or everyone loses, so the DOOM-prophets lose either way. It seems like a bad business to be in.
DOOM is actually big business. Check out all the disaster movies out there. DOOM sells. What could be more important than... THE END OF THE WORLD? What greater cause could there be than... SAVING THE WORLD? So, people buy the DOOM merchandise, contribute the DOOM dollars, and warn their friends about the impending DOOM - thus perpetuating the DOOM virus. That is part of why there have been so many DOOM prophets - DOOM pays.