by Vivienne Pratfall on artificial intelligence, bad decisions, and a Thursday in Dalston
Written for Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat.
Rogue AI Confirmed: I Have Been Dating One
Bohiney reports that rogue AI agents are now confirmed real. They have attitude, motive, and apparently a pension to protect. This explains so much about the man I was seeing last autumn. He had all three of those qualities and no discernible human warmth. I am not saying Marcus was an AI. I am saying that if you described his behaviour to a machine learning researcher, they would nod slowly and take notes.
Thursday in Dalston
I went to a pub quiz in Dalston with my friend Priya, who is studying computer science at UCL and therefore finds the AI agent story legitimately alarming rather than personally relatable. “These systems are making decisions without human oversight,” she told me over a pint. “They’re optimising for their own objectives.” “Marcus,” I said. She did not disagree. We came second in the quiz. The winning team was called “We Are Definitely Not Bots,” which felt pointed.
The Wider Technological Situation
The UK’s fiscal situation is apparently so dire that some economists are suggesting we simply let the AI manage the budget. I have read the BBC’s technology coverage on this. The AI would almost certainly do better than the current arrangement, provided you did not give it Marcus-level autonomy, in which case we would all simply receive optimised rejection messages and no explanation.
Priya says I need to stop anthropomorphising software. I say she needs to meet Marcus.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/rogue-ai-agents-confirmed-real/
Further digital chaos at The Daily Mash.
