(1) First Up, Some Media I’ve Done Recently

Be sure to check these out for more of my thoughts on AI consciousness, intelligence, and more!

(2) A Podcast On AGI

I really loved listening to this podcast episode. It’s one where three different thinkers on the effects of AGI are interviewed, all with very different opinions on it. I wanted to link the podcast episode, but it wasn’t working (YouTube below)

If you google ‘The AI Skeptics episode on the Longview podcast’ it should pop up pretty easily. For what its worth, I lean towards Arvind Narayanan’s views, though also appreciate Marcus’ point that if we stop spending so much time on LLMs and invent other kinds of technologies, things in the AI space could change and we need to be honest about that. Ed Zitron’s opinions on Hinton are off base imo. I think Hinton does genuinely believe in AI taking over and I suspect it’s rooted in his beliefs about brains. See here for my thinking on this.

(3) Situational Awareness by Leopold Aschenbrenner

I’ve been reading the AI manifesto situational awareness by Leopold Aschenbrenner. This was written in June 2024 and we know a lot has happened since then. Nevertheless, this text is foundational to AGI discourse, and reads as a fascinating sociological analysis to me, more than anything else.

The Manifesto is a lengthy discussion of Aschenbrenner’s predictions about the coming of AGI in 2027 (or thereabouts). The argument is that algorithmic progress (i.e., less data and less compute solving the same amount of problems), unhobbling (i.e., removing certain practical constraints from AI to allow their full scope of intelligence) and AIs reaching something like human level intelligence, will bring about an explosion in super-intelligence.

It backs up the economic and logistical costs required for such an explosion using historical examples (e.g., that during WW2 countries borrowed more GDP-equivalent than would be necessary for AI investment for the coming of AGI) and addresses a variety of common objections to the arguments made. All in all, it’s a fascinating read into the beliefs of those who believe AGI is coming in the near future.

(4) An Article from The Atlantic on Humans Talking About Themselves like They are LLMs

People talking about themselves like they are LLMs? It was only a matter of time, I suppose. But it is happening surprisingly soon (of course, it’s only happening in silicon valley). Nevertheless, well worth knowing about. Read it as a gift article here!

(5) Tech Elites and the Literature of Philip K Dick?

This is a short and interesting read (this should be a gift link) comparing tech elites to Philip K Dick novels from the 60’s and 70’s. It’s funny how literature so often has ways of helping us understand the realities of the world we live in.

(6) Will a Tech-Free world be an Elite Luxury in the Future?

That’s what Dana Suskind argues and I worry it could be true. Another gift link here.

(7) Some reading on the ‘AI is getting out of control’ narrative

An all round refreshing and measured read on AI and cybersecurity incidents.

Thank you for being here, I’ll be back next week with an article as usual ✨

Photo by Mario Dobelmann on Unsplash