[ExI] Fwd: On Large-language models

[Keith Henson]

My wife sent me this question:

> As a comment to our presentation about GPT 3.5 and 4 at this morning's
> forum, one of my coworkers proposed a question to ask an AI: "GPT4,
> what is the date that the machines finally take over the world?"

I have Bing (GPT4) through Skype so I asked. and got a verbose reply:

*****

There is no definitive answer to your question, as different sources
may have different definitions and predictions of when machines will
take over the world. However, some possible dates are:

•  July 19, 1987: According to the movie Maximum Overdrive, based on a
short story by Stephen King, this is the date when the Earth crosses
the tail of a comet and machines suddenly become sentient and
homicidalhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximum_Overdrivehttps://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091499/.

•  2025-2040: According to some estimates, this is the range of years
when computer processing power will be able to execute as many
simultaneous calculations as the human brain, potentially leading to
artificial general intelligence (AGI) and the technological
singularityhttps://www.startribune.com/how-the-machines-will-take-over/304830181/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/reaching-singularity-may-be-humanitys-greatest-and-last-accomplishment-180974528/.

•  2045: According to futurist Ray Kurzweil, this is the year when the
singularity will occur, meaning that machines will surpass human
intelligence and become capable of
self-improvementhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/reaching-singularity-may-be-humanitys-greatest-and-last-accomplishment-180974528/.

•  Early 2020s: According to some researchers, this is the time when
quantum computing could enable machines to reach the singularity
faster than expectedhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/reaching-singularity-may-be-humanitys-greatest-and-last-accomplishment-180974528/.

Of course, these are all speculative scenarios and there is no
guarantee that any of them will happen. There are also many ethical,
social and technical challenges that may prevent or delay machines
from taking over the world. Therefore, it is wise to be cautious but
not fearful of the future of AI.

******

GPT is not human, but it has been trained to act like it is human by humans.

It quibbles over how soon, but does not deny that machines will at
some point take over the world.

The last sentence is pure soothing PR.

Wow.

Keith