V_V comments on Will AGI surprise the world? - Less Wrong

12 Post author: lukeprog 21 June 2014 10:27PM

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Comment author: brazil84 22 June 2014 09:16:30PM 0 points [-]

A related question:

Are any governments working on AI projects? Surely the idea has occurred to a lot of military planners and spy agencies that AI would be an extremely potent weapon. What would the world be like if AI is first developed secretly in a government facility in Maryland?

Comment author: Lumifer 23 June 2014 06:21:04PM 1 point [-]

What would the world be like if AI is first developed secretly in a government facility in Maryland?

Fucked.

Comment author: brazil84 23 June 2014 06:40:43PM 0 points [-]

Fucked.

I'm not sure I would agree with that. Would you mind telling me why you think so?

To my mind, whoever is the first to develop AI has a good chance of having an awesome amount of power. I am not comfortable with anyone having that kind of power, but if I had to pick one person or organization, I would probably pick the United States government.

Comment author: Lumifer 23 June 2014 06:49:13PM *  1 point [-]

Would you mind telling me why you think so?

An AI developed by the military (or the security apparatus) will have the goals of the military (or the security). And being developed within the bureaucratic labyrinths of a federal organization ensures that there will be many things wrong with it, things about which no one will know (and so cannot suggest fixing) because it all will be very very secret.

Comment author: brazil84 24 June 2014 01:00:21AM 1 point [-]

And being developed within the bureaucratic labyrinths of a federal organization ensures that there will be many things wrong with it, things about which no one will know (and so cannot suggest fixing) because it all will be very very secret.

Well if Microsoft develops AI first, won't there be a similar problem?

Comment author: Lumifer 24 June 2014 05:46:39PM 0 points [-]

Not to the same extent, I don't think so.

Comment author: brazil84 24 June 2014 06:59:09PM 3 points [-]

Not to the same extent, I don't think so.

I would have to disagree. For one thing, if a corporation like Microsoft (or perhaps Google) develops AI, it seems pretty likely that it will be done in secret, if only to prevent competitors from gaining an advantage. Even if the existence of the project is known, the actual details will probably be secret. For another, it seems like it would be difficult for the public to provide meaningful feedback in such a situation.