Who gets to define the rules for AI?

(cohere.com)

18 points | by throwworhtthrow 1 hour ago

6 comments

  • injidup 2 minutes ago
    If you want a seat at the table then your AI must prove itself capable of winning some competition against the incumbents. How about a nice game of chess?
  • jeffreygoesto 51 minutes ago
    The article revolves a lot around the "how" and "why" but does not really answer it's own title. We thought we have the answer right there: in democracies, the people delegates working out the rules to a group of elected people. The rules then are enforced by another, independent group of people. Currently this seems to be broken in (not only) the USA.
    • ozgung 26 minutes ago
      The answer is: historically the incumbents define the rules and use safety as an excuse to build their moats by gaining exclusive rights and they end up being cartel/monopolies.

      It’s a rhetorical question.

    • slopinthebag 48 minutes ago
      this has always been broken
      • kreyenborgi 1 minute ago
        Broken is a spectrum, not binary.

        (And it is not even bounded. Some years ago, people argued that "it's already broken so voting in the crazy guy who wants to shake things up will flip the switch from broken to non-broken". But they were wrong. As McCarthy wrote, There are no absolutes in human misery and things can always get worse)

  • throwworhtthrow 1 hour ago
    I believe this is a reaction to Dario Amodei's essay yesterday, "We Must Pace the Frontier": https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49672510

    Cohere's disagreement seems mostly about who makes the rules. From the essay (which does seem significantly written by AI, sadly):

    > The rules around AI are getting written either way. What's still open is whether they get written by a group anyone can join and with evidence anyone can check, or by a handful of companies in a room with the door shut.

    Of course none of the AI companies will suggest that they should be accountable for the illegal actions taken by agents they host, but I feel like that could be a very effective "pacing mechanism", and addresses the concerns brought up by this essay about fairness and transparency.

    • ElProlactin 49 minutes ago
      > Of course none of the AI companies will suggest that they should be accountable for the illegal actions taken by agents they host, but I feel like that could be a very effective "pacing mechanism"...

      The problem is that the potential liabilities arguably vastly exceed what these companies can absorb. It would be interesting to see if any major insurer wanted to step up and insure them.

      On the plus side, in the worst case scenarios, we won't have to worry about damages because nobody will be left to pursue them.

  • rnd0 18 minutes ago
    The people with money, obviously.
  • moktonar 58 minutes ago
    Shouldn’t this be a democratic process?
    • zoobab 32 minutes ago
      Democracy does not exist.

      And there is no need for rules, this doomerism probability is not based on science.

      • xg15 30 minutes ago
        Are we full-on Peter Thiel "democracy and freedom are incompatible" yet?
        • krige 27 minutes ago
          Atlas may start shrugging any minute now!
  • light_hue_1 42 minutes ago
    There will be many scientists, myself included, that would band together to break the cartel if it forms. It's just a matter of money. It is absurd.

    Any logic shows that this is really about their valuations and being tired of innovating instead of having any safety concerns. What would happen if the US did this? Chinese and EU labs would eventually win. And then either the US becomes a backwater or they have to eventually spend the money to keep up anyway. But in the meantime they will have bought themselves a few years at insane valuations.

    Also, look at the stark choice they want to offer "we'll kill everyone or you give us the power to do whatever we want with the most important tech around". That's it. If we aren't in an oligarchy now, we will be if this goes through. They're going to end up stealing trillions of dollars from the rest of society.

    • skew-aberration 33 minutes ago
      RSI scenario is not scientist-limited though. So, you'd better get cracking if you want to catch up before it's impossible. Will first need to raise some serious capital too...