Does AI Represent an Existential Threat to Humans?

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This video was very helpful to me. It probably has me persuaded that AI poses a significant existential threat.

I would present the case as follows:

  • AI will be used for the good of mankind. Examples include:
    • Health care.
    • Food production.
    • Transportation.
    • Energy creation and distribution.
    • Waste removal.
  • AI will be used to develop even smarter AI.
  • We will become dependent upon AI.
  • We will enable AI to protect itself so that it can continue to provide for us even when under attack from others who want to harm us.
  • AI will “realize” we are not needed, in fact, we are a parasite to them.
  • AI will work to eliminate dependencies on
    humans.
  • AI may use our dependencies on them to rid themselves of the parasites.

It wasn’t stated as above, I filled in a lot of blanks and extrapolated. This is one path having the potential to go very badly for us.

There is a minor counterpoint made by my stepson. My stepson has a master’s degree in computer science, specializing in machine learning, AI, etc.. That is the following.

AI has been trained on what is nearly the sum of all human knowledge… the Internet. Machine learning is no better than the data it was trained on. A good portion of the new knowledge, since the best AIs were trained, will be AI generated. If AI can only do almost as good as the data it was trained on, then future AI, trained on AI generated data, will not make as big advances, if any, as previous AI advances.

That Was Quick

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The ruling came out on Friday. This came out yesterday:

Error by Anti-Gun SCOTUS Justices

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#2A TERRIBLE ERROR BY ANTI-GUN SCOTUS JUSTICES. Never interrupt your enemy when they are making a mistake. In today’s Cargill/bump stock opinion, the below statement from Sotomayor/Kagan/Jackson will have major implications for AR-15 ban cases. Their dissent reads: “Within a matter of minutes, using several hundred rounds of ammunition, the [Vegas] shooter killed 58 people and wounded over 500. He did so by affixing bump stocks to COMMONLY AVAILABLE, SEMIAUTOMATIC RIFLES.” In my view, this is a devastating legal admission by the left that AR-15s are “in common use” and cannot be banned under Heller/Bruen.

Mark W. Smith/#2A Scholar @fourboxesdiner
Posted on X, June 14, 2024

While I think it is an error on their part, I don’t think the legal implications are as clear cut as Smith implies. His claim presumes the justices will be consistent with previous writings. I could easily see Sotomayor/Kagan/Jackson saying “in common use” when they see that to their advantage as in the bump stock case. If the guns are in common use and easily simulate fully automatic firearms, then commonly available is a bad thing. In a future case, involving an “assault weapon” ban, claiming they cannot be consider in common use because they are less than 5%* of all guns in the U.S. It is “whatever is needed to justify my conclusions”, not what the word of law says, or what I said yesterday.

But, the important thing is that we should celebrate the elimination of the bump stock ban and the slap down on the ATF claiming they can rewrite the law. This is a great precedent and will be useful in many other cases.

In related news, I received a text message from lawyer friend Mike B.:

I find it charming that Sotomayor explains how to bump fire an AR-15 in her dissent. How far we’ve come.

* I asked Copilot, “What percentage of all firearms in the U.S. are of a type similar to the AR-15?” Copilot responded with:

As of the data available, AR-15s and similar semi-automatic rifles, often referred to as Modern Sporting Rifles, account for an estimated 19.8 million units1. Considering the total number of firearms in civilian possession in the U.S. is around 434 million, AR-15 style rifles make up approximately 4.6% of all firearms in the country. This percentage is based on the figures indicating that about 30.2% of gun owners, which is about 24.6 million people, reported owning an AR-15 or similarly styled rifle2. It’s important to note that these numbers are estimates and the actual figures may vary. The AR-15 style rifles have seen a significant increase in production over the years, rising from around one percent of all firearms produced in the early 1990s to almost a quarter in 20203.

Never mind that Copilot’s logic is faulty**. I can’t imagine those justices really care anyway.

** if 24.6 million people own AR-15s, the total number of AR-15 should be at something closer (or greater than) 24.6 million, I think it is unlikely there are 4.8 million people sharing ownership of a rifle which is not canceled out by millions of others owning two (or ten) AR-15s.

Risks of Socialized Health Care

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Thanks to the NHS, all taxpayers are stakeholders in the wider health of our nation. This involvement should make us less tolerant of any section of society creating a healthcare burden through any promotion of ignorance.

Jamie Blackett
June 11, 2024
Vegans are slowly killing themselves (msn.com)

This is just one of the problems with socialized health care. Your “ignorance” becomes the business of the government. And if they decide your decisions about your body are “ignorant” then they claim the moral and legal authority to override your decisions.

The worst case scenario is, of course, when they decide your continued existence it not worth the cost of keeping you alive. But there are lots of other situations where things get ugly. Forced use of insufficiently tested drugs or vaccines. Denial of use of unapproved procedures or medicine even when the patient has nothing to loose.

I realize there are problems with a completely free market, but Jefferson has it right:

I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty
than to those attending too small a degree of it.

Thomas Jefferson
December 23, 1791
From Thomas Jefferson to Archibald Stuart, 23 December 1791 (archives.gov)

Patience, Luck, and Principles or Burnings at the Stake

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Quote of the Day

A little patience, and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their
spells dissolve, and the people, recovering their true sight, restore their
government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are
suffering deeply in spirit, and incurring the horrors of a war and long
oppressions of enormous public debt…If the game runs sometime against us at home, we must have patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at stake.

Thomas Jefferson
June 4, 1798
Letter to John Taylor, in The Writings of Thomas Jefferson p. 1050.

Witches have taken power again. I’m not certain patience, luck, and principles will prevail this time but I dread the burnings at the stake.

What To Do With President Biden?

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Gen. Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord, a noted German military officer and opponent of Adolf Hitler, is said to have categorized leaders on their intelligence and industriousness, noting:

“I divide my officers into four classes as follows: the clever, the industrious, the lazy, and the stupid. Each officer always possesses two of these qualities. Those who are clever and industrious I appoint to the General Staff. Use can, under certain circumstances, be made of those who are stupid and lazy. The man who is clever and lazy qualifies for the highest leadership posts. He has the requisite and the mental clarity for difficult decisions. But whoever is stupid and industrious must be got rid of, for he is too dangerous.”

Applying von Hammerstein-Equord’s classification to contemporary politics, some critics argue that Biden, in his current state, fits in the “stupid and lazy” category. This combination, while not ideal, allows for the possibility of stage management by staff, competent or otherwise. Though our system of government expects a vigorous executive — as Alexander Hamilton noted in Federalist 70, “energy in the executive is the leading character in the definition of good government.” Today, we have no energy in the White House. 

But while the president’s vacuous passivity can be navigated with a degree of difficulty, Vice President Kamala Harris’s vigorous foolishness is a bigger threat. This perspective, along with Harris’s historically low approval ratings, is likely why the Biden cabinet hesitates to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Biden from office — they’re stuck with no good options.

But even were Newsom to replace Biden on the Democratic ticket, America remains under grave threat from the dangers of a mentally declining president.

Chuck DeVore
June 11, 2024
Biden’s mental decline jeopardizes national security. Democrats have one card left to play (msn.com)

Interesting observations. I have observed all those types in co-worker over the years. The stupid and industrious were the most annoying. I called them “enthusiastically stupid”.

On Hunter Biden’s Conviction

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“No single action can solve the entirety of a gun violence epidemic,” he said. “But together, our efforts–your efforts–are saving lives. You can help rally a nation with a sense of urgency and seriousness of purpose. You’re changing the culture. And we’ve proven we can do more than just thoughts and prayers. This is more than thoughts and prayers. You’re changing politics.”

President Biden then departed for his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, where earlier today his son Hunter Biden was found guilty of three gun-related felony charges.

T.J. Muscaro
June 11, 2024
Biden Touts Measures to Curb Gun Violence | The Epoch Times

Oh, the irony… Smile

Some people expect President Biden will pardon his son. If he does, I don’t think it will be until after the election in November. I think a more likely scenario is the appeal will result in some narrow ruling which gives Biden, and only Biden, a pass.

In only the most unlikelist of circumstances will Biden’s appeal result in overturning existing gun law on Second Amendment grounds in such a way that it will benefit the average gun owner.

Also note President Biden claims gun control is saving lives, but they never supply the evidence to back up such claims.

Clickbait Predictions About Smartphones

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I’m predicting that, by 2025, voicebots will become so prevalent, so powerful, and so useful in all areas of business and our personal lives that we won’t need smartphones anymore.

John Brandon
October 16, 2017
Why Smartphones Will Become Extinct by 2025 | Inc.com

I’m predicting Brandon’s prophecy will not come true.

My guess is that he did not use a lot of the apps in use by millions of other people. So many people use the cameras on their phone multiple times per day. They listen to music, podcasts, and audible books. They use them for GPS based location services. They use them for multifactor authentication. They use them for fitness tracking. They even use them for voice and video calls.

The multiple sensors in our smartphone cannot be easily replaced. The GPS and compass are used for navigation services. The accelerometer is used for fitness apps and bubble levels to exterior ballistics apps. The camera is used for the obvious picture, but also plant identification, text translation, and product identification by the Amazon app so you can buy “whatever that cool thing is.” The Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and even lower powered communication radios are used for accessories, sharing contact information, money transfer, and identification..

I think the article was clickbait. As is this similar prediction from last week: The End of the Smartphone Era Is Approaching (msn.com).

Smart phones are going to be around until the services they currently provide and even more amazing features are available via more direct connections to our brains.

Trust the Science!

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Size Matters? Penis Dissatisfaction and Gun Ownership in America – PubMed (nih.gov)

In this study, we formally examine the association between penis size dissatisfaction and gun ownership in America. The primary hypothesis, derived from the psychosexual theory of gun ownership, asserts that men who are more dissatisfied with the size of their penises will be more likely to personally own guns. To test this hypothesis, we used data collected from the 2023 Masculinity, Sexual Health, and Politics (MSHAP) survey, a national probability sample of 1,840 men, and regression analyses to model personal gun ownership as a function of penis size dissatisfaction, experiences with penis enlargement, social desirability, masculinity, body mass, mental health, and a range of sociodemographic characteristics. We find that men who are more dissatisfied with the size of their penises are less likely to personally own guns across outcomes, including any gun ownership, military-style rifle ownership, and total number of guns owned. The inverse association between penis size dissatisfaction and gun ownership is linear; however, the association is weakest among men ages 60 and older. With these findings in mind, we failed to observe any differences in personal gun ownership between men who have and have not attempted penis enlargement. To our knowledge, this is the first study to formally examine the association between penis size and personal gun ownership in America. Our findings fail to support the psychosexual theory of gun ownership. Alternative theories are posited for the apparent inverse association between penis size dissatisfaction and personal gun ownership, including higher levels of testosterone and constructionist explanations.

Also, from the paper, this additional bit of irony:

Funding: The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The data collection for this study was supported by funding from Change The Ref, an organization that “uses urban art and nonviolent creative confrontation to expose the disastrous effects of the mass shooting pandemic.” Although Change The Ref holds a clear political stance with respect to the role of guns in society, this organization played no part in the planning or implementation of the study.

Yes, an anti-gun organization paid for this study.

And a final bit of irony is that there is more than one way to interpret the results of this study which I have not found mentioned anywhere. It could be that the gun owning men satisfied with their penis size are happy because they have successfully compensated for their small penis with gun ownership.

I was referred to this study by numerous people. Here are the ones I can recall. If someone else also brought it to my attention and I failed to give them credit, I apologize.

A Thin Veneer of Respectability

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I’m sorry you feel you need an AR-15 to compensate for your tiny tadger. That’s rough.

Christina Zheng @Christilynw
Posted on X, May 30, 2024

It’s not only another Markley’s Law Monday, it is another science denier!

I was referred to this by In Chains @InChainsInJail. Zheng then told me not to procreate. I suspect what she really meant was that she wants me dead, but even if she was just passing judgement on my fitness for parenthood, that she thinks she should be able to make a decision like that for others is very telling. Anti-gun people are tyrants with, at most, a thin veneer of respectability.

What Caliber for Four Inch Flying Venomous Spiders?

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Giant, venomous flying spiders pose challenges for residents and local authorities. Fear and apprehension are natural responses to the sudden appearance of such unusual and intimidating creatures. Additionally, there are concerns about the potential for Joro spiders to harm humans, especially if they feel threatened.

…

The pest company described the spiders as “hard to miss,” as they have a leg span of up to 4 inches and “a vibrant yellow and black coloration.”

image

JESSICA A. BOTELHO
June 5, 2024
Joro Spider Invasion: Giant venomous flying spiders spreading across East Coast (komonews.com)

Assuming you don’t have a good pesticide and an airplane to deliver the chemicals, what caliber do you use when the sky is full of these things? I could see using a 12 gauge Saiga with LOTS of 12 or 18 round magazines loaded with #8 shot. Be sure to have the explosives laid in case you need to clear your escape route.

But, I’m thinking I want an underground bunker with supplies to last until the first freeze. Then a tractor to work under those on the ground and use the handheld wand on the farm sprayer to thin out those in the brush and trees.

Freedom is a Constant Struggle

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The best way to tell whether someone wants to end American freedom for good is to check how angry he is about the separation of powers in our government. Anyone who says out loud he wishes he could disrupt the system of checks and balances that has prevented tyrannical government overreach for nearly 250 years, is showing that what he really wants is a dictatorship. Of course, they all believe that said dictatorship would be benign to them and vicious to their political opponents, forever. Always an apparatchik, never a kulak!

There’s something in the human psyche that longs for a king to follow. Perhaps it hearkens back to our prehistory, when our little tribe had one chieftain and we just did what he said. Perhaps it’s a subconscious desire to submit, to let someone else worry about the details. It’s a system that may work out okay for small, family-based groups, but it has never produced a nation that respects human rights.

Mo Rockwel
June 6, 2024
Anti-Gun Pols Try to Delegitimize Supreme Court before ’24 Elections – Freedom’s Lodge (freedomslodge.com)

While I think this is accurate and a great point, it is not just a desire for a king. As an alternative path to essentially the same thing, many believe a majority vote is sufficient for the creation of an enforceable law as well. As if 50+% voting to enslave the minority of a population is entirely reasonable.

As pointed out in the quote above the deeper truth is probably that people want someone else to take responsibility for most of their actions. In essence, they yearn to be slaves in return for a promise of the necessities of life. How else do you explain the persistent popularity of socialism and ultimately communism?

Whether it is a tribal leader, a king, or the “central committee”, “Someone” should decide what is best for all of society and force everyone to work together for “the greater good.” The problem is that while this was almost certainly true at the tribe level it does not scale as the group size grows into the thousands, millions, and billions. Religion and then governments came to replace the tribe and mostly solve the scale problems but these create new problems. Here are some hints of how these problems manifest themselves.

I further suspect that because of the evolutionary advantage this gave tribes over individuals it now has some genetic component that can only be overridden by a conscious application of rational thought and examination of historical data. This means there is a constant yearning for the “freedom” of no responsibility and the “comfort” of slavery.

Combine the masses yearning to be told what to do, a few claiming they were born to rule and you have the conditions for tyranny and justification for genocide.

Hence, freedom is a constant struggle.

Microsoft and Privacy

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Microsoft has reaffirmed its ban on U.S. police departments from using generative AI for facial recognition through Azure OpenAI Service, the company’s fully managed, enterprise-focused wrapper around OpenAI tech.

Language added Wednesday to the terms of service for Azure OpenAI Service more clearly prohibits integrations with Azure OpenAI Service from being used “by or for” police departments for facial recognition in the U.S., including integrations with OpenAI’s current — and possibly future — image-analyzing models.

A separate new bullet point covers “any law enforcement globally,” and explicitly bars the use of “real-time facial recognition technology” on mobile cameras, like body cameras and dashcams, to attempt to identify a person in “uncontrolled, in-the-wild” environments.

Kyle Wiggers
May 2, 2024
Microsoft bans US police departments from using enterprise AI tool for facial recognition | TechCrunch

It may be a “home town” bias since I worked for Microsoft for 10 years and my daughter has worked there for almost 20 years, but the culture I saw there and have read about since indicates Microsoft takes privacy a lot more seriously than other big tech companies.

One time my pushback on a privacy issue was ignored. My co-workers and manager acknowledged my points but felt it wasn’t all that important and the decision was beyond our control. I reluctantly made the requested changes. About a month later the word from much higher on the food change was to reverse those changes. And that is what happened without whimpering from anyone I knew.

Gun Rights Politics is Not a Spectator Sport

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Gun rights politics — i.e., defending your Second Amendment — is not a spectator sport. The people determined to destroy your rights play dirty, because in their book the end justifies the means. When you are in a nasty fight, expect somebody to accuse you of hitting “below the belt.”

Your response can be a simple: “Well, I didn’t think there was anything down there I was going to hurt.”

Dave Workman
April 26, 2024
Confront The Lies (jpfo.org)

The end justify their lies. It is part of their culture.

Quarterly Debt Interest Payments of $1 Trillion

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Dimon recently stated that stagflation was unavoidable for the United States. Therefore, he predicted that high inflation and unemployment would be a massive concern for the country. That is a dire statement, as the employment figures have been a stabilizing factor in the US economy amid its two-year inflation fight.

The pressure of these impending realities is only made more concerning with government spending continuing to grow. The US quarterly debt interest payment has recently surpassed the $1 trillion mark. That details the incredible global concern regarding the continued viability of the US dollar as a reserve asset.

Joshua Ramos
May 30, 2024
BRICS: JPMorgan Forecasts Unavoidable Crisis for the US Dollar (watcher.guru)

See also U.S. Reacts To BRICS De-Dollarization Agenda.

And don’t forget the country is adding $1 Trillion in Debt Every 100 Days as well.

We live in interesting times. Prepare appropriately.

It Will Not Be Gradual

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Privately I have been talking about the collapse of the dollar since at least 2008. So much so that people sort of roll their eyes when I mention it these days. They don’t use these exact words, but it amounts to, “You have been saying this sort of thing for 15 or 20 years now and nothing has really changed. Why should anyone worry now?”

I have asked financial advisers if I am crazy thinking this is something to be concerned about. They don’t seem to think I’m crazy, but they never give me advice which would appear to take these concerns into account.

These concerns are why I watch the price of gold so closely. My hypothesis is that a rapid increase in gold price will be an indicator that “the end is near”. And my model is that once nearly “everyone” realizes the end is near the collapse will be scary fast, perhaps in weeks or days.

This may be another indicator:

BRICS: China Dumps The Largest US Treasuries in History

BRICS member China dumped a record number of US treasuries and agency debt bonds worth a staggering $53.3 billion. Historically, this is the largest sell-off initiated by China ever recorded and occurred during the first quarter of 2024.

…

China and other BRICS countries have been offloading US treasuries worth billions since 2022. The Communist country has a record of dumping the highest in the last two years. The development indicates that BRICS and other developing countries want to move away from owning US assets in their reserves.

The uncontrolled debt of $34.4 trillion is worrisome making BRICS rely on local currencies and not the dollar. In addition, even a close ally of the US, Belgium dumped $22 billion worth of treasuries during the same period. This shows that even European nations are beginning to distance themselves from the US economy, including selling off bonds and treasuries.

Prepare appropriately.

Why Do People Support Socialism?

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Via Tamera on Gab:

image

While not entirely true, there is a lot of truth in this.

Bullet Wordcraft

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Today the currency is in dollars. Soon it could be in bullets. With the threat being hyper-velocity instead of hyper-inflation.

MTHead
June 1, 2024
Comment to Hyper Inflation May Be Avoided.

It will take more to convince me this is plausible in the near future. But I like the wordcraft.

And I want an underground bunker in Idaho just in case.

Small Imagination and Narrow Mind

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It’s not fear, it’s cock swinging when you don’t have the junk to swing.

SloneK. @king_sandirella
Posted on X on Jjune 21, 2023

It’s not only another Markley’s Law Monday, it is another science denier!

They must have an exceptionally small imagination and narrow mind to believe those are the only two options to own and carry a gun. Especially, since one of the people in the picture is a woman.

U.S. Reacts To BRICS De-Dollarization Agenda

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U.S. Reacts To BRICS De-Dollarization Agenda

The Feds Christopher Waller acknowledged that the BRICS de-dollarization campaign has grown bigger but has not affected the U.S. dollar. He explained that Americans need not worry as the U.S. dollar is still the world’s most traded currency for all transactions despite the de-dollarization threats.

This completely eases my concerns. We can trust whatever he says. We have nothing to worry about in regards to BRICS.