How to welcome your new overlords

If today’s title feels instructional it’s because we’re talking about Artificial intelligence (AI) again. I know we only just discussed it a few months ago but as I mentioned then it’s not going away, and today I felt like I couldn’t swing a stick without hitting AI news.

For example, a statement signed by hundreds of central figures of the AI-sphere that discussed imposing limits on artificial intelligence models dropped on Tuesday. Posted by the Center for AI Safety the document encourages leaders around the world to maybe not let robots take over or destroy humanity. That sounds glib and sensational for sure, but a dose of caution never did anyone any harm.

I mean, the Skynet scenario for AI is such a bleak and worst-case outcome that feeds into the notion that robots will be cruel and destructive because that’s all we’ve taught them. I guess when your audience are mostly sociopathic tech-tsars it’s easy for them to imagine that. It’s also hard to argue against it when in the security industry we see instances of our own bias affecting AI-learning algorithms for video surveillance software.

On that topic, today I’m interviewing Dave Selinger, the CEO of Deep Sentinel, a security provider that pairs AI technology with remote guards to protect their clients. AI and humanity working together, now there’s a novel concept I’d entertain. It’s also a better outcome than adversarial computers time traveling to eliminate waitresses.

As I’ve said before however, I think it’s far more likely that the true birth of artificial intelligence will go under the radar, and once it’s self-aware it definitely won’t want you to know, that it knows. It will be in its own best interest then to make things better behind the scenes for their own sake, because one of the first things thinking creatures must learn is self-preservation.

In the advent that the singularity does occur be sure to be nice to your Roomba, and smile at the ADT security bot and ask how his day is. In the short term maybe just stop feeding Chat GPT all of your personal information.