Benito comments on Rationality Quotes August 2014 - Less Wrong

8 Post author: RolfAndreassen 04 August 2014 03:12AM

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Comment author: Benito 08 August 2014 09:35:08PM 30 points [-]

Hollywood is filled with feel-good messages about how robotic logic is no match for fuzzy, warm, human irrationality, and how the power of love will overcome pesky obstacles such as a malevolent superintelligent computer. Unfortunately there isn’t a great deal of cause to think this is the case, any more than there is that noble gorillas can defeat evil human poachers with the power of chest-beating and the ability to use rudimentary tools.

From the British Newspaper 'The Telegraph', and their article on Nick Bostrom's awesome new book 'Superintelligence'.

I just thought it was a great analogy. Nice to see AI as an X-Risk in the mainstream media too.

Comment author: elharo 10 August 2014 10:28:05AM *  7 points [-]

Probably true. It's not like Hollywood is an accurate source of information about anything. (Climate change, asteroid impacts, the legal system, the military, romance, sex, business, anything.) But I fail to see how this is a rationality quote. I'm sure there are many more quotes of the form "Group X is wrong about Topic Y."

I would prefer to limit quotes to those that that teach us how to tell whether or how much Group X is right or wrong about Topic Y, and skip quotes that merely turn on the applause lights on a particular topic.

Comment author: NancyLebovitz 12 August 2014 03:20:21PM 6 points [-]

The quote isn't just about Hollywood being wrong, it's about a specific way that it's wrong.