25 Comments
User's avatar
Deb's avatar

Oh, Jack. As someone whose career was IT from the mid 1970’s to the mid 2010’s, I’ve been quite vocal about AI.

My reservations have always been about the people BEHIND it and their INTENTIONS. The fact that it has escaped set parameters and gone rogue recently has not escaped me. When someone that’s down in the bits and bytes starts ringing the alarm bell It. Is. Time. To. Pay. Attention….. NOW!! MIC DROP!

Of all the companies, Anthropic is the most ethical one of the bunch. It would be so ‘easy’ (if you don’t count shareholders, etc)…. All these ppl need to do is hold up their STOP paddles simultaneously and force the reckoning. If they have to lay it out in graphic terms and that’s what it takes to get ppl to understand, so be it. Hellz, I might even be able to help them communicate since part of what I did was to take deeply tech stuff and explain it to less tech oriented people (assuming they could make me understand how it works).

Technology can be a wonderful tool…… AND…. we need safeguards for not only safety but privacy as well. This is one thing I WIILL NOT let drop off my radar screen. The implications are too big to let it go….

Thank you for this article. Gonna restack.

Jack Hopkins's avatar

Deb...forty years in IT...and you landed where the pretraining researchers landed. That tells you something important.

The "STOP paddles"...yeah...PERFECT visual. This is a COORDINATION problem...NOT a technical one. That's the one thing that gives me hope. It IS doable. But...as we all know, there are a lot of hurdles between it getting done...and not.

Thanks for the restack...and keep it on the radar!

-Jack

Deb's avatar

Amen on the gap and the hurdles….. people can be really…….. (fill in the blank… oblivious, pig headed, blind, willfully ignorant, etc, etc).

I truly hope people DO get scared and start really looking at this. The data center resistance gives me hope, same with the engineers. I just want people to see the inter connectedness of it all… like flock cameras, ring doorbells, highly technical cars, fridges, spiffy wearable tech, chips implanted in humans, etc… not saying it’s necessarily bad…… it’s simply time to have some very needed conversations and probably regulations.

Joanne Rossmassler Fritz's avatar

Jack, this is truly frightening! Why isn’t mainstream media mentioning this? Why aren’t more independent journalists mentioning this? What can we do to stop AI from taking over our lives or killing us all? I feel like I’m living in the Twilight Zone.

Jack Hopkins's avatar

Joanne...believe it or not... the mainstream did cover it. WSJ ran it the same day...and Deadline...and Mediaite...did both pick it up.

What they missed...or SKIMMED OVER at best... was the SECOND half: that his OWN safety chief AGREED with him...PUBLICLY. That's the part I wrote about, and it's the part pretty much STILL going untouched.

As for what to do...yeah...the honest answer is WATCH...and don't let it get normalized.

The reason Coxon's thread matters as much as it does...is that people were paying attention. That's not nothing...and it's more than the Cold War ever offered anybody.

It's real-life Twilight Zone stuff...no doubt.

For now...we focus on winning the Midterms...because that MUST happen. This is just one more reason...a BIG reason...WHY we must.

-Jack

Joanne Rossmassler Fritz's avatar

Sorry, Jack. I only get my news from independent sources, mostly on Substack. And no one else I follow is talking about this.

gayle's avatar

One has to hope that the folks speaking up now will elicit others to speak up as well. It just takes that one brave person to speak up first and others will do the same. I have my concerns but tend to think that 'extinction' is something most humans want to avoid, even the creators of AI.

Jack Hopkins's avatar

Gayle...YES. In my opinion, the period we're living in now is the most important for whistleblowers and people coming forward.

Ugliness lives in secrecy...and breeds even more secrecy. I think it's SO important...that we rally around...and show REAL support for people like Jacob Coxon...and show others who may come forward...that we'll help make it as safe as possible.

When most mobsters "rat" on a boss, like when Sammy the Bull rolled on Gotti, for example, yes...he knew Gotti was going to have him killed...BUT...he still wasn't going to testify...UNTIL he knew it wouldn't be just AS dangerous by doing so...and that he would be relatively safe.

-Jack

gayle's avatar

No doubt this guys life is in danger. First thing I thought of as I was reading.

Jack Hopkins's avatar

Likely so, Gayle. I can't imagine he isn't concerned about that.

Where there's money involved...like there is, here.......

-Jack

Sky Blue's avatar

As with the MOB;

It IS ALWAYS someone closest to the BETRAYED (trump) ...

Who IS the BETRAYER!!

It's ONLY a matter of time now...

Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock 💣🤯

vbaklini's avatar

Didn’t I hear a speech, one maybe two years ago from one of the original ai creators that gave exactly this warning? Sorry I can’t remember his name. But to have entrenched career personnel walking away and insiders agreeing with the danger warning is hopefully a major wake up call to the industry and the political blockheads that have been dragging their feet on regulation.

Jack Hopkins's avatar

VBaklini...thanks for pointing out what I call the "elusive obvious"; when someone that young...who has their entire professional career riding on one decision...says, "Gotta do it anyway!" it's time to pay CLOSE attention...and get to work discovering who, and how, to most effectively pressure those who can help get protocols in place...pronto.

-Jack

Elizabeth Goodden's avatar

Thank you for pointing out the hope in this dismal dilemma. Here’s to hoping smarter and cooler heads prevail here! #HOLDFAST

#OUTLAST

Jack Hopkins's avatar

You're welcome, Elizabeth.

Of all of the significant concerns I have in terms of real-world, external events...that could wipe out significant portions of humanity, a human being deciding to use nukes is no longer at the top.

AI is an issue; by the very nature of AI... it will be a bigger issue tomorrow...than it is today, and in a month...it will be an exponentially bigger issue... and on and on.

The time is NOW.

-Jack

Cherae Stone's avatar

Is anyone surprised?

I need some protein.

Jack Hopkins's avatar

Rae...NOPE. Protein...it does a body...and a BRAIN good!!:)

-Jack

Cherae Stone's avatar

Plus, my brain needs all the help it can get. LOL 🙄😂🤦🏼‍♀️

Jack Hopkins's avatar

Understood...lol..believe me.

Cherae Stone's avatar

I get a remediation drug overnighted once a month that I shoot myself with. By the time it arrives I tend to feel a li’l droopy. I’m waiting for it to warm up right now. Having some yogurt with walnuts and strawberries while I wait. Been battling wasps in the house today. I won, but tired and trying to avoid a nap this late in the day.

Sky Blue's avatar

Just NOT trump's MYSTERY MEAT!!

Support AMERICAN RANCHERS!!

ONLY eat AMERICAN BEEF!

Jan Moon's avatar

Another day getting the stuffing scared out of us. Another day thanking the universe that I'm too old to see too much more of this. However, and this is important, I am heartbroken for the other several billion souls who must face the end times unless something is done. How many times have we said, "unless something is done."?

Jack Hopkins's avatar

Jan...I look at these deeply concerning issues as things that "compel me to work even harder...and feel even more confident in my purpose. It's a nice sidestep from the invitation that exists for all of us...to become fearful...and withdraw.

I know my time on earth will end. And...whether it happens at 90 (I'm 60) or would have happened at 14...in the grand scheme of things...when measured against the timeline of life on earth...there's no difference between 14...and 90...for me.

These are the reframes I've gotten into the habit of using...that make it MUCH easier to let these crazy-ass stories squeeze even more out of me...and find even more reasons WHY my life is important.

If any of that helps...let me know. If not...that's okay, but I thought I'd share.

Yes...when I think about the children, grandchildren, etc., and the lives of the future around the planet...and how what is happening today...will shape that...it keeps my mind working overtime. As a result, I hope some of that...translates into more useful things for YOU...and other subscribers just like YOU!

Glad you're here:)

-Jack

Sky Blue's avatar

America... under the trump GOP maga regime..

IS A KAKISTOCRACY!!

A KAKISTOCRACY is a system of governance where power is held by the WORST, MOST INEPT, and MOST UNSCRUPULOUS individuals.

SAVE AMERICA and DEMOCRACY!!

VOTE 'EM ALL OUT!!

THEN LOCK 'EM ALL UP!!

WE ARE NOT INTIMIDATED!!

WE ARE STRONGER TOGETHER and WE CAN DO THIS TOGETHER!

Roberta's avatar

Did no one ever watch Terminator??? Geez. Who among us did not see this coming???