A.I. could destroy the world.

[Cherry Picker]

Any other computer techies out there? I am cracking up with all this new talk about how dangerous A.I. is. I watched the interview of Elon Musk with Tucker Carlson and I could see Elon was about to crack up laughing. I think Elon, and others, are pumping up the fear of those with less knowledge about how and what A.I. is.

I was at the onset of A.I. in the 80s and wrote A.I. programs for IBM compatibles and Microsoft. I also helped design A.I. engines. A.I. is nothing but a program. Code written to simulate intelligence. It can do nothing more than what the coder has coded it to do. It has no self-thought or actions. Too many people have watched Terminator and I, Robot LOL.

We have been talking to A.I. telephone systems for many years. Now some crafty bad guys have figured out they could sample someone's voice and extort money from people over the telephone. The news has it headlined as "A.I. used to attempt to con people out of ransom money." A.I. has no brain. It can only store what it learns as code on a hard drive or memory. That information can always be viewed and controlled.

 

[randy]

My first career was in IT for 30 years. I even co-authored an RFC (if you don't know what that is, it doesn't matter; think of it sort of like a prestigious paper in a field; in this case it described a particular Internet protocol).

I'll be impressed when AI can tell deep silver from deep ferrous. Not holding my breath on that one, tho a well-understood E-Trac comes close using MI (manual intelligence).

AI will cost jobs tho. Even if the machine can't do things better than humans, there will be humans that think it can. And there are actually some things that machines can do better. Been that way since the beginning of time, tho I imagine that taking over the world isn't one of these things.

Me, I just want an AI that can get me thru a phone menu customer service app to get me to a human. These things suck, and I once worked at a company that wrote them, so I know they suck.

The real fear, at least for me, is humans using AI or any other tool to take the judgment out of life. That is scary monsters IMHO. The rest of the hype is bunk that can safely be ignored IMHO.

 

[Diga]

Just as hilarious, is those that actually think AI is sentient.

 

[Cherry Picker]

My first career was in IT for 30 years. I even co-authored an RFC (if you don't know what that is, it doesn't matter; think of it sort of like a prestigious paper in a field; in this case it described a particular Internet protocol).

I'll be impressed when AI can tell deep silver from deep ferrous. Not holding my breath on that one, tho a well-understood E-Trac comes close using MI (manual intelligence).

AI will cost jobs tho. Even if the machine can't do things better than humans, there will be humans that think it can. And there are actually some things that machines can do better. Been that way since the beginning of time, tho I imagine that taking over the world isn't one of these things.

Me, I just want an AI that can get me thru a phone menu customer service app to get me to a human. These things suck, and I once worked at a company that wrote them, so I know they suck.

The real fear, at least for me, is humans using AI or any other tool to take the judgment out of life. That is scary monsters IMHO. The rest of the hype is bunk that can safely be ignored IMHO.

Hey, I did a lot of documentation for networking designs. Mostly for medical use, but I believe a lot of it was/is used in VPNs even today. My concern was always that the concepts I experienced with often dealt with patients. Pretty nerve-racking knowing your design could have a negative effect on a living patient when a physician isn't able to access a critical injury patient in a timely manner. I was all self-taught by me and my friend and neighbor, he owned the only computer store in the area, networked our houses and I could experiment with network options. We ran the only BBS between Oklahoma City and Denver Colorado called T&T's BBS. Wrote a lot of documentation on modem AT commands and remote connections back then.

 

[Rudy]

I am not at all worried about Artificial Intelligence. It is Natural Stupidity that scares the hell out of me.

 

[Diga]

BBS?

Wow. That brought back some memories of coding games for a couple of our BBSs.

I also remember using "Phone Man". A program in which you entered a starting area code (573 for example), and then it would start at 573-0000 and keep dialing sequentially from there. When it found a computer on the other end of the line, it would save that number. I started it before bed and let it run all night. That meant I woke up about 1000 people in the middle of the night to the sound of a screeching dial up tones. Hey, I was only around 15 or 16 at the time

 

[Cherry Picker]

BBS?

Wow. That brought back some memories of coding games for a couple of our BBSs.

I also remember using "Phone Man". A program in which you entered a starting area code (573 for example), and then it would start at 573-0000 and keep dialing sequentially from there. When it found a computer on the other end of the line, it would save that number. I started it before bed and let it run all night. That meant I woke up about 1000 people in the middle of the night to the sound of a screeching dial up tones. Hey, I was only around 15 or 16 at the time

LOL I used that. It would call sequential numbers and make a list of those answered by a modem. *cough* hackers tool LOL.

The biggest issue I faced was finding the AT commands for the various modems to connect at the right speed and not drop. Later modems got smarter, about once they hit 2400 baud, and AT commands were added that made good reliable connections. FTP was always a problem tho. Especially with my remote radiologist. He had to have xrays sent to his home PC so he could give diagnoses to the hospital. The connection had to be solid and not drop during the FTPing of large files.

We kept TNT's online for a few months after the Internet went public, but we didn't want to invest in the Internet version of Power BBS. It was a cool Windows compatible BBS that had a client software that had really cool graphics. We had a chat A.I. program back then. Our most popular game was L.O.R.D. Legend Of the Red Dragon.

 

[Tinhorn3]

One of my hobby's is programing so some day I'll ask you guys program questions LOL

back ~1970 I worked with assembly language, my computer at work had 2 cassette tapes rather than hard drive, I new a little of fortran - COBOL & got into BASIC finally. Today I program with VB6, old but does good. Wonder how todays people heard of floppy discs

 

[Cherry Picker]

One of my hobby's is programing so some day I'll ask you guys program questions LOL

back ~1970 I worked with assembly language, my computer at work had 2 cassette tapes rather than hard drive, I new a little of fortran - COBOL & got into BASIC finally. Today I program with VB6, old but does good. Wonder how todays people heard of floppy discs

Yup, programming was my hobby for many years. Unfortunately, I learned Basic, and Basica, but then I went to VB when Widows came out. Should have gone with C, but VB was so fast to write robust programs with. I guess that is why it was called "a RAD", rapid application development, By that time I was writing programs for the local police department, and an insurance company so I needed mostly DB programs real fast. I could spit out a basic database program in just a few hours.

I wrote one program using assembly and that was more than enough to know I didn't have that much time. I started on a VIC 20, wrote my first flight simulator on a Commodore 64. The BBS was started on a 286, then 386, then 486 and we upgraded clear to a Pentium before we shut the BBS down.

I wrote a program I called Finders Keeper that I used to track my metal detecting finds. People that have been here for a long time may remember when I offered it for download as beta testers.

 

[Diga]

The 4 or 5 BBBs in my city were all written in Basic. After learning basic and programming games, I realized that programming wasn't something I wanted to do as a career. My passion was in diagnosing and repairing computers. I still do that to this day.

Funny side note:

As a young teen, I asked for a Commodore 64 for Christmas. Instead, I got a Sinclair Z81. WTH!

 

[SeabeeRon]

Yup, programming was my hobby for many years. Unfortunately, I learned Basic, and Basica, but then I went to VB when Widows came out. Should have gone with C, but VB was so fast to write robust programs with. I guess that is why it was called "a RAD", rapid application development, By that time I was writing programs for the local police department, and an insurance company so I needed mostly DB programs real fast. I could spit out a basic database program in just a few hours.

I wrote one program using assembly and that was more than enough to know I didn't have that much time. I started on a VIC 20, wrote my first flight simulator on a Commodore 64. The BBS was started on a 286, then 386, then 486 and we upgraded clear to a Pentium before we shut the BBS down.

I wrote a program I called Finders Keeper that I used to track my metal detecting finds. People that have been here for a long time may remember when I offered it for download as beta testers.

View attachment 578072
View attachment 578073

I remember when you offered that!

 

[TorqueMaster]

It seems like the press is on an "AI" bandwagon, but they don't know the difference between AI and programming. Things have been programmed for decades, it's only as smart or dumb or safe or dangerous as the programmer who wrote it. To me, AI is self-modifying code -- capable of improving itself by learning what works and what does not. Possibly dangerous depending on what you allow it to control. Not too worried as long as humans are around to yank the power cord.

 

[Cherry Picker]

I now see Elon's motive. He has announced he is creating his own TRUTHGPT platform. Now I know why he is stirring up the fear over A.I. I knew he was smart enough to know how A.I. works. He's just taking advantage of those who don't.

Maybe I should cash in on this new A.I. fear and write a program designed to detect rogue A.I. LOL.

It is hilarious watching the news blow A.I. out of proportion and showing their ignorance of an old technology that is coming to age. They have been playing the reel about "A.I. voice scams". Common, you have been able to record/sample, your voice and make a telephone answering message for years. All they've done is attach an automated response that uses your recorded voice.

Yes, A.I. can and has been used for malicious purposes, but until now it has been called malicious software. The bigger danger is that all our personal data is now scattered all over the Internet. One could use an A.I. code to search the Internet for all information about an individual, stuff often used as passwords like pets names, etc., and then take all the information it finds and use it to "brute force" hack into your personal data. Of course, this is nothing a person can not do as well, they just don't have the patience.

 

[Cherry Picker]

The 4 or 5 BBBs in my city were all written in Basic. After learning basic and programming games, I realized that programming wasn't something I wanted to do as a career. My passion was in diagnosing and repairing computers. I still do that to this day.

Funny side note:

As a young teen, I asked for a Commodore 64 for Christmas. Instead, I got a Sinclair Z81. WTH!

I took a course back in the 90s that our hospital paid for, and I ended up correcting the instructor a lot. But I did get a piece of paper LOL.

 

[Tpmetal]

I think the real fear about AI is how it is implemented and used. I think people should worry how humans use it rather than worry about the AI itself. For instance it is currently ruining education as kids are using it in schools to write papers instead of doing the work themselves. Or the AI programs that are being used to put filters on videos that can be used to make it appear someone did something that they never did. Things along that line. Humans have abused every piece of tech we have ever created and somehow used it to hurt others, so I see it being no different with AI. As for AI going all 1980s terminator on us... I agree not happening unless it was set up specifically to do that.

 

[Cherry Picker]

I think the real fear about AI is how it is implemented and used. I think people should worry how humans use it rather than worry about the AI itself. For instance it is currently ruining education as kids are using it in schools to write papers instead of doing the work themselves. Or the AI programs that are being used to put filters on videos that can be used to make it appear someone did something that they never did. Things along that line. Humans have abused every piece of tech we have ever created and somehow used it to hurt others, so I see it being no different with AI. As for AI going all 1980s terminator on us... I agree not happening unless it was set up specifically to do that.

Well said.

I compare the threat of A.I. to the threat of a gun. A.I. is going to rise up and take over as much as a gun will shoot people on its own. A.I. is just a tool. How it is used is not the fault of A.I., but the people who wield it. Bad people can do bad things just as good people can do good things.

 

[rreahard]

I am not at all worried about Artificial Intelligence. It is Natural Stupidity that scares the hell out of me.

This x1,000!!

 

[metaladdict]

I played with the pet computer in the 80s also the commodore 64. Math and computer language wasn't my strong points. I couldn't grasp machine language.

 

[Tinhorn3]

I still have my VIC 20 & my Commodore 64 [ wasn't that $600? then ] Electronic stuff dies when not used a long time but some day I'm going & try & see if they work. I wish I had learned "C" but...

 

[Rudy]

As a young engineer working at Bell Labs, I became proficient in FORTRAN and assembly language for several computers and mainframe machines.

Most fun was working on the Honeywell DDP-516, which was also used by ARPA in the early days of interconnecting computers in networks. Yep, this eventually became known as the internet. https://t-lcarchive.org/honeywell-ddp-516/

Another fun minicomputer to work on was the Interdata 7/32 and the 8/32, the first "affordable" 32 bit minicomputers. The main reason for it being fun was that their instruction set mimicked the instruction set of the IBM360 mainframe computer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interdata_7/32_and_8/32

I couldn't use the IBM360 as that was used strictly for things like payroll. Instead, we used a Honeywell (nee GE 2000) mainframe for heavy duty computations.

I also played around with a DEC PDP-8 and, to a lesser extent, a PDP-11 using the B language which was the precursor to C.

WOW! It was fun thinking about those days back in the late 60's and 70's.