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Timeless Quotes - Sadly The Late Paul Shetler - "Its not Your Health Record it's a Government Record Of Your Health Information"

or

H. L. Mencken - "For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong."

Thursday, December 07, 2023

I Am Not Sure I Am All That Reassured By This From Microsoft!

This appeared last week:

Microsoft president says no chance of super-intelligent AI soon

By Muvija M and Martin Coulter

Dec 1 2023 6:36AM

Downplays so-called "dangerous discovery" by OpenAI.

The president of Microsoft said there is no chance of super-intelligent artificial intelligence being created within the next 12 months, and cautioned that the technology could be decades away.

OpenAI cofounder Sam Altman earlier this month was removed as CEO by the company’s board of directors, but was swiftly reinstated after a weekend of outcry from employees and shareholders.

Reuters last week exclusively reported that the ouster came shortly after researchers had contacted the board, warning of a dangerous discovery they feared could have unintended consequences.

The internal project named Q* (pronounced Q-Star) could be a breakthrough in the startup's search for what's known as artificial general intelligence (AGI), one source told Reuters.

OpenAI defines AGI as autonomous systems that surpass humans in most economically valuable tasks.

However, Microsoft president Brad Smith, speaking to reporters in Britain, rejected claims of a dangerous breakthrough.

"There's absolutely no probability that you're going to see this so-called AGI, where computers are more powerful than people, in the next 12 months. It's going to take years, if not many decades, but I still think the time to focus on safety is now," he said.

Sources told Reuters that the warning to OpenAI's board was one factor among a longer list of grievances that led to Altman's firing, as well as concerns over commercializing advances before assessing their risks.

More here:

https://www.itnews.com.au/news/microsoft-president-says-no-chance-of-super-intelligent-ai-soon-602991

I am not sure the assurance that nothing will happen ‘soon’ is all that useful!

While I am sure we are all good for tomorrow, I am also pretty sure that in my nipper’s lifetime we will have seen the emergence of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) with all that my lead to.

There is no doubt the world could do with a good deal of help with a range of tricky problems in pretty much all domains from the geo-political to the environmental and so on! Just how this will come about I have no idea but I am pretty sure the need is there.

I am also not sure where the start of the queue is to ask for particular problems to be solved.

What I can also be sure of is that there is plenty of need for problems to be solved!

I am less sure about just how we humans are going to co-exist with AGI entities but there are certainly many books in the DF domain offering views as to how it might all work out!

Being a simple soul I would certainly counsel moving carefully and slowly into what may be a pretty trickly future!

Anyone have additional thoughts?

David.

 

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I would suggest the current generation is posing a big enough threat. We will soon learn that all those images and voice recording we uploaded of ourselves, our friends and our children we easily be reconstructed into all sorts of damaging ways.

What you put online stays online.