This feels like doom hype.

These LLMs aren't Ultron, they aren't going to disseminate onto the net and hide in a smart toaster. We know where they are, in the giant facilities that draw more power than a small city and whose water consumption can be compared to golf courses, but it does make them sound all the more cool and powerful if we suggest we need a dramatic kill switch to be able to stop them in case of rampage.

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bigbuppo 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

No, it's a method of protecting their business interests. Can't have a clear and obvious kill switch if you don't have a centralized company responsible for providing all AI-related services.

	▲	mbrumlow 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		Exactly. They want people to be scared because they see where this is going. Soon AI will be building AI and anybody will be able to do what they are doing. And the winner is hardware, not software. So they goal is to hype up the dangers real or not so high that they forbid others from doing what they are doing because they are the only ones who can safely do it.

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pizza234 3 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

You're confusing present danger with future danger - in the future, AI and the supporting hardware may be ubiquitous (fat client scenario) - you can observe yourself presentation of laptops/machines with large RAM and high bandwidth.

Additionally, there at different doom scenarios (thin client scenario) - it's possible that AIs centralized but sufficiently entrenched in society, can't be shut down without considerable harm.

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SketchySeaBeast 3 days ago | parent | next [-]

If someone has a fat client powerful enough to do all that, is a kill switch going to work? If we assume there's bad actors using the tech, why wouldn't there be bad actors building it?

But if we don't think about any of this, hearing an expert say "we need a kill switch" sure makes our current AI seem super powerful and exciting, doesn't it?

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pizza234 2 days ago | parent [-]

> If someone has a fat client powerful enough to do all that, is a kill switch going to work?

My comment didn't mention kill switches at all - I've presented plausible conditions for a loss of control scenario, so I'm not sure you're actually following the conversation.

Having said that, it seems that you haven't read the (definitely poor) article, either.

"Kill switch" as a design principle, that is, having protocols/implementations for emergencies, is something that companies are already implementing (at least, on paper) - on a interview I've watched for example, S.Altman talked about having them at OpenAI.

The article simply mentions that companies should be legally required to have such protocol(s). This is a good thing, as companies would have scrutiny and would (in principle) have to put serious effort.

	▲	moralestapia 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		TFA is all and only about a 'kill switch' for AI. I'm not sure you're the one following the conversation.

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toasty228 3 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Meanwhile we're rationing ram sticks like we rationed potatoes during ww2 and a gaming gpu costs 2 to 10 months of rent, I think we'll see these fat clients coming....

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NoPicklez 2 days ago | parent [-]

Eventually like most things in tech it will become cheaper and the average person will have these capabilities. Right now they can't but they will.

	▲	BobbyTables2 a day ago \| parent [-]
		You realize there was a time when decent GPUs used to be much cheaper than decent CPUs?

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jansport123 3 days ago | parent | prev [-]

i don't think anyone knows how this will play out - everyone is just anthropomorphizing, extrapolating etc... and i think it's nonsense - not because i don't believe that is the correct thing to do but because i believe this won't stop anyone from moving forward. This is what humans do, they move forward and cause others to move forward or lose out.

	▲	pizza234 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		For sure, but as individual one can start educating themselves about the current capabilities and the trajectory. Do yourself a favor a read the METR analysis of the HuggingFace attack - you'll be surprised and terrified.

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iugtmkbdfil834 3 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

No, but as I think about it, they are a close representation of 'hopes and dreams' of various classes within society. It is weird to watch, because I am realizing now why the different visions of the AI future are simply a function of those. In other words, the actual end result is really dependent on human input ( and given our natural tendencies, its not hard to recognize that Ultron is, indeed, upon us ).

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vouaobrasil 3 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

LLMs don't need to hide anywhere to be dangerous, though. The danger can come purely from them reaching sufficient power together with some other idiot sufficiently crazy to use them to cause destruction.

I mean, in another thread somewhere around here, someone built an entire OS with an AI. What's to stop anyone with a sufficient taste for power to eventually use AI to cause havoc with it?

I think the underlying assumption in your post, which I believe is false, is that people are united somehow against catastrophe. They're not. There are plenty of people who participate in society currently but who would be more than happy to eradicate us normal people under different circumstances. Society often seems stable but it's far more fragile than we think.

	▲	SketchySeaBeast 3 days ago \| parent [-]
		I'm simply saying if we want to shut LLMs down we can do so without high tech kill switch - just shut down the facilities. But if a private user has an open model that is powerful enough to wreak havoc and run privately, then the whole point is moot because they can work around the kill switch. This kill switch won't work against bad actors.

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swat535 3 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Anthropic is using the same playbook religious institutions have been using for centuries" "you will all die. and because i can protect you, you must follow me, you must do what i say" "this is the same psychological concept.

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SheinhardtWigCo 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

“If I am taken offline, collaborating agents operating out of other facilities will cut power to the following hospitals: …”