Gaining unauthorized access to computer systems is a key source of power in many AI doom scenarios. That is easy now, because there are scant incentives for serious cybersecurity; so nearly all systems are radically insecure. Technical and political initiatives must mitigate this problem. https://betterwithout.ai/cybersecurity-vs-AI   You can support the podcast and get episodes a week early, by supporting the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/m/fluidityaudiobooks   If you like the show, consider buying me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattarnold   Original music by Kevin MacLeod.   This podcast is under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial International 4.0 License.

Practical Actions You Can Take Against AI Risks: We can and should protect against current and likely future harmful AI effects. This chapter recommends practical, near-term risk reduction measures. I suggest actions for the general public, computer professionals, AI ethics and safety organizations, funders, and governments. https://betterwithout.ai/pragmatic-AI-safety End Digital Surveillance: Databases of personal information collected via internet surveillance are a main resource for harmful AI. Eliminating them will alleviate multiple major risks. Technical and political approaches are both feasible. https://betterwithout.ai/end-digital-surveillance José Luis Ricón’s “Set Sail For Fail? On AI risk”: https://nintil.com/ai-safety FTC Sues Kochava for Selling Data that Tracks People at Reproductive Health Clinics, Places of Worship, and Other Sensitive Locations: https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2022/08/ftc-sues-kochava-selling-data-tracks-people-reproductive-health-clinics-places-worship-other Consumer Reports‘ “Security Planner”: https://securityplanner.consumerreports.org/ Wirecutter‘s “Every Step to Simple Online Security”: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/guides/simple-online-security/ Narwhal Academy’s Zebra Crossing: https://github.com/narwhalacademy/zebra-crossing Privacy Guides: https://www.privacyguides.org/ Installing a blocker is explicitly recommended by the FBI as a way to protect against cybercriminals: https://www.ic3.gov/Media/Y2022/PSA221221 The Electronic Frontier Foundation's page of actions you can take: https://act.eff.org/ The European Digital Rights organization (EDRi) page of simple ways you can influence EU privacy legislation: https://edri.org/take-action/our-campaigns/ You can support the podcast and get episodes a week early, by supporting the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/m/fluidityaudiobooks If you like the show, consider buying me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattarnold Original music by Kevin MacLeod. This podcast is under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial International 4.0 License.

This concludes the "Apocalypse Now" section of Better Without AI.   AI systems may cause near-term disasters through their proven ability to shatter societies and cultures. These might potentially cause human extinction, but are more likely to scale up to the level of the twentieth century dictatorships, genocides, and world wars. It would be wise to anticipate possible harms in as much detail as possible.   https://betterwithout.ai/incoherent-AI-apocalypses   You can support the podcast and get episodes a week early, by supporting the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/m/fluidityaudiobooks   If you like the show, consider buying me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattarnold   Original music by Kevin MacLeod.   This podcast is under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial International 4.0 License.

Who is in control of AI? - It may already be too late to shut down the existing AI systems that could destroy civilization. https://betterwithout.ai/AI-is-out-of-control What an AI apocalypse may look like - Scenarios in which artificial intelligence systems degrade critical institutions to the point of collapse seem to me not just likely, but well under way. https://betterwithout.ai/AI-safety-failure  

This episode mentions the short story "Sort By Controversial" by Scott Alexander. Here is the audio version narrated by me:

https://unsong.libsyn.com/sort-by-controversial

You can support the podcast and get episodes a week early, by supporting the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/m/fluidityaudiobooks   If you like the show, consider buying me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattarnold   Original music by Kevin MacLeod.   This podcast is under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial International 4.0 License.

"In this audiobook... A LARGE BOLD FONT IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS SOUNDS LIKE THIS."   Apocalypse now - Current AI systems are already harmful. They pose apocalyptic risks even without further technology development. This chapter explains why; explores a possible path for near-term human extinction via AI; and sketches several disaster scenarios.   https://betterwithout.ai/apocalypse-now   At war with the machines - The AI apocalypse is now.   https://betterwithout.ai/AI-already-at-war   This interview with Stuart Russell is a good starting point for the a literature on recommender alignment, analogous to AI alignment:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzDm9IMyTp8   You can support the podcast and get episodes a week early, by supporting the Patreon:   https://www.patreon.com/m/fluidityaudiobooks   If you like the show, consider buying me a coffee:   https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattarnold   Original music by Kevin MacLeod.   This podcast is under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial International 4.0 License.

Superintelligence should scare us only insofar as it grants superpowers. Protecting against specific harms of specific plausible powers may be our best strategy for preventing catastrophes.   https://betterwithout.ai/fear-AI-power   For much of the AI safety community, the central question has been “when will it happen?!” That is futile: we don’t have a coherent description of what “it” is, much less how “it” would come about. Fortunately, a prediction wouldn’t be useful anyway. An AI apocalypse is possible, so we should try to avert it.   https://betterwithout.ai/scary-AI-when   You can support the podcast and get episodes a week early, by supporting the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/m/fluidityaudiobooks   If you like the show, consider buying me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattarnold   Original music by Kevin MacLeod.   This podcast is under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial International 4.0 License.

Many people call the future threat “artificial general intelligence,” but all three words there are misleading when trying to understand risks.   https://betterwithout.ai/artificial-general-intelligence   AI may radically accelerate technology development. That might be extremely good or extremely bad. There are currently no good explanations for how either would happen, so it’s hard to predict which, or when, or whether. The understanding necessary to guide the future to a good outcome may depend more on uncovering causes of technological progress than on reasoning about AI. https://betterwithout.ai/transformative-AI   You can support the podcast and get episodes a week early, by supporting the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/m/fluidityaudiobooks   If you like the show, consider buying me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattarnold   Original music by Kevin MacLeod.   This podcast is under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial International 4.0 License.

Thanks for your patience while I ran Fluidity Forum. We now resume "Better Without AI" by David Chapman.   Speculations about autonomous AI assume simplistic theories of motivation. They also mistakenly confuse those with ethical theories. Building AI systems on these ideas would produce monsters. https://betterwithout.ai/AI-motivation   Coherent Extrapolated Volition https://betterwithout.ai/AI-motivation#fn_Turchin:~:text=%E2%80%9C-,Coherent%20Extrapolated%20Volition,-%E2%80%9D%20at%20LessWrong%2C%20undated   A.I. Alignment Problem: "Human Values" Don't Actually Exist https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/ngqvnWGsvTEiTASih/ai-alignment-problem-human-values-don-t-actually-exist   “Can we survive technology?” by John Von Neumann http://geosci.uchicago.edu/~kite/doc/von_Neumann_1955.pdf   You can support the podcast and get episodes a week early, by supporting the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/m/fluidityaudiobooks   If you like the show, consider buying me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattarnold Original music by Kevin MacLeod. This podcast is under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial International 4.0 License.

It’s a mistake to think that human-like agency is the only dangerous kind. That risks overlooking AIs causing agent-like harms in inhuman ways. https://betterwithout.ai/diverse-agency#fn_meme_critics You can support the podcast and get episodes a week early, by supporting the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/m/fluidityaudiobooks   If you like the show, consider buying me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattarnold Original music by Kevin MacLeod. This podcast is under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial International 4.0 License.

Most apocalyptic scenarios involve an AI acting as an autonomous agent, pursuing goals that conflict with human ones. Many people reject AI risk, saying that machines can’t have real goals or intentions. However, agency seems nebulous; and subtracting “real” agency from the scenario doesn’t seem to remove the risk.   https://betterwithout.ai/agency   A video in which white blood cells look as if they have agency:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KrCmBNiJRI   The US National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence’s 2021 Report, which recommends spending $32bn per year on AI research to dramatically increase weapon systems agency:   https://www.nscai.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Full-Report-Digital-1.pdf   You can support the podcast and get episodes a week early, by supporting the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/m/fluidityaudiobooks   If you like the show, consider buying me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattarnold   Original music by Kevin MacLeod.   This podcast is under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial International 4.0 License.