Gary Marcus on Musk, other AI bros and controlling governments, and Orwell's 1984

[highplainsdem]

Earlier thread about Elon's tweet: https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220418168


https://garymarcus.substack.com/p/1984-but-with-llms

-snip-

Elon Musk couldn’t control Washington, so now he is going to try to control your mind instead.

If you don’t think Altman and Zuckerberg are going to try to the same, you aren’t paying attention. Together with Jony Ive, Altman is apparently aiming to build a smart necklace or similar, presumably with 24/7 access to everything you say — and to make his LLMs, which he can shape as he pleases, your constant companion. Surveillance tools Orwell himself barely dreamed of.

Zuckerberg, meanwhile, is spending his billions trying to make AI to his own liking (and trying his best to hire Altman’s best staff away, apparently offering $100 million annual salaries to some). The Chinese government has already made conformity to their Party line a legal requirement; Putin is probably on it, and it’s not inconceivable that the present US government might pressure companies to do the same.

LLMs may not be AGI, but they could easily become the most potent form of mind control ever invented.

[SheltieLover]

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