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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">Ben Cannon wrote:<br>
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<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:7E7418CD-2F1C-4278-B27D-920309C02C2A@6by7.net">
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To follow - Siri couldn’t figure out how to add an entry to my
calendar today. I am yet to be afraid.</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:7E7418CD-2F1C-4278-B27D-920309C02C2A@6by7.net">
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Although the google bot that placed a call to book a haircut
was impressive.<br>
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</blockquote>
"Siri, book dinner with my wife, on our anniversary." Be afraid,
VERY afraid. :-)<br>
<br>
Miles<br>
<br>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:7E7418CD-2F1C-4278-B27D-920309C02C2A@6by7.net">
<div><br>
<div dir="ltr">
<div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Ms.
Lady Benjamin PD Cannon, ASCE<br class="">
6x7 Networks & 6x7 Telecom, LLC <br class="">
CEO <br class="">
<a href="mailto:ben@6by7.net" class=""
moz-do-not-send="true">ben@6by7.net</a><br class="">
"The only fully end-to-end encrypted global
telecommunications company in the world.”</span></div>
<div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br
class="">
FCC License KJ6FJJ<br class="">
</span></div>
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br>
</span>
<div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Sent
from my iPhone via RFC1149.</span></div>
</div>
<div dir="ltr"><br>
<blockquote type="cite">On Dec 9, 2020, at 12:16 PM, Mel
Beckman <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:mel@beckman.org"><mel@beckman.org></a> wrote:<br>
<br>
</blockquote>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div dir="ltr"><span>Miles,</span><br>
<span></span><br>
<span>You realize that “AI” as general artificial
intelligence is science fiction, right? There is no
general AI, and even ML is not actually learning in the
sense that humans or animals learn. “Neural networks”,
likewise, have nothing to do at all with the way
biological neurons work in cognition (which science
doesn’t understand). That’s all mythology, amplified by
science fiction and TV fantasies like Star Trek’s
character “Data”. It’s just anthropomorphizing technology.
</span><br>
<span></span><br>
<span>We create unnecessary risk when we anthropomorphize
technology. The truth is, any kind of automation incurs
risk. There is nothing related to intelligence, AI or
otherwise. It’s all just automation to varying degrees.
ML, for example, simply builds data structures based on
prior input, and uses those structures to guide future
actions. But that’s not general behavior — it all has to
be purpose-designed for specific tasks.</span><br>
<span></span><br>
<span>The Musk-stoked fear that if we build automated
systems and then “put them together” in the same network,
or whatever, that they will somehow gain new capabilities
not originally designed and go on a rampage is just plain
silly. Mongering that fear, however, is quite lucrative.
It’s up to us, the real technologists, to smack down the
fear mongers and tell truth, not hype. </span><br>
<span></span><br>
<span>Since the academics’ promised general intelligence of
AI never materialized, they had to dumb-down their
terminology, and came up with “narrow AI”. Or “not AI”, as
I prefer to say. But narrow AI is mathematically
indistinguishable from any other kind of automation, and
it has nothing whatsoever to do with intelligence, which
science doesn’t remotely yet understand. It’s all
automation, all the time.</span><br>
<span></span><br>
<span>All automated systems require safeguards. If you don’t
put safeguards in, things blow up: rockets on launchpads,
guns on ships, Ansible on steroids. When things blow up,
it’s never because systems unilaterally exploited general
intelligence to “hook up” and become self-smarted. It’s
because you were stupid.</span><br>
<span></span><br>
<span>For a nice, rational look at why general AI is
fiction, and what “narrow AI”, such as ML, can actually
do, get Meredith Broussard’s excellent book "Artificial
Unintelligence - How computers misunderstand the world". </span><br>
<span></span><br>
<span><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.amazon.com/Artificial-Unintelligence-Computers-Misunderstand-World/dp/026253701X">https://www.amazon.com/Artificial-Unintelligence-Computers-Misunderstand-World/dp/026253701X</a></span><br>
<span></span><br>
<span>Or if you prefer a video summary, she has a quick talk
on YouTube, "ERROR – The Art of Imperfection Conference:
The Fragile”:</span><br>
<span></span><br>
<span><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuDFhSUwOAQ">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuDFhSUwOAQ</a></span><br>
<span></span><br>
<span>At 2:20 into the video, she puts the kibosh on the
mythology of general AI.</span><br>
<span></span><br>
<span> -mel</span><br>
<span></span><br>
<span></span><br>
<blockquote type="cite"><span>On Dec 9, 2020, at 11:07 AM,
Miles Fidelman <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:mfidelman@meetinghouse.net"><mfidelman@meetinghouse.net></a> wrote:</span><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"><span>Hi Folks,</span><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"><span>It occurs to me that network
& systems admins are the the folks who really have
to worry about AI threats.</span><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"><span>After watching yet another AI
takes over the world show - you know, the </span><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"><span>same general theme, AI wipes
out humans to preserve its existence - it </span><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"><span>occurred to me:</span><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"><span>Perhaps the real AI threat is
"self-healing systems" gone wild. Consider:</span><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"><span>- automated system management</span><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"><span>- automated load management</span><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"><span>- automated resource
management - spin up more instances of <whatever>
</span><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"><span>as necessary</span><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"><span>- automated threat detection
& response</span><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"><span>- automated vulnerability
analysis & response</span><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"><span>Put them together, and the
nightmare scenario is:</span><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"><span>- machine learning algorithm
detects need for more resources</span><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"><span>- machine learning algorithm
makes use of vulnerability analysis library </span><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"><span>to find other systems with
resources to spare, and starts attaching </span><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"><span>those resources</span><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"><span>- unbounded demand for more
resources</span><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"><span>Kind of what spambots have
done to the global email system.</span><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"><span>"For Homo Sapiens, the
telephone bell had tolled."</span><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"><span>(Dial F for Frankenstein,
Arthur C. Clarke)</span><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"><span>I think I need to start
putting whisky in my morning coffee. And maybe not
thinking </span><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"><span>about NOT replacing third
shift with AI tools.</span><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"><span>Miles Fidelman</span><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"><span>-- </span><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"><span>In theory, there is no
difference between theory and practice.</span><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"><span>In practice, there is. ....
Yogi Berra</span><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"><span>Theory is when you know
everything but nothing works. </span><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"><span>Practice is when everything
works but no one knows why. </span><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"><span>In our lab, theory and
practice are combined: </span><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"><span>nothing works and no one knows
why. ... unknown</span><br>
</blockquote>
<span></span><br>
</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
</blockquote>
<br>
<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice.
In practice, there is. .... Yogi Berra
Theory is when you know everything but nothing works.
Practice is when everything works but no one knows why.
In our lab, theory and practice are combined:
nothing works and no one knows why. ... unknown</pre>
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