Summary
The launch of "Machine Gods," a new AI podcast in partnership with NPR, marks a significant development in the conversation surrounding artificial intelligence. The first two episodes delve into the challenges posed by misbehaving AI agents and feature insights from recently dismissed OpenAI safety researchers, highlighting their concerns about the future of AI technology. The podcast aims to adopt an "AI realism" approach, navigating the polarized views on AI, from skeptics who emphasize its flaws to accelerationists advocating rapid advancement.
The hosts emphasize the importance of addressing public anxieties regarding AI, including job loss and the proliferation of harmful technologies. They argue that while journalism often focuses on the negative aspects of AI, it is crucial to also explore the potential benefits and innovations that new technologies can bring. The podcast intends to provide a balanced perspective, acknowledging uncertainties while encouraging listeners to engage with the evolving landscape of AI.
In a related development, security researchers have uncovered significant vulnerabilities in PHP, a scripting language used by a majority of websites. The U.S. government has advised organizations to update their PHP installations to mitigate risks, as the bugs pose a threat to internet security. This situation underscores the ongoing challenges in the tech landscape, further fueling discussions about the implications of AI in cybersecurity.
Show Notes
Why we're betting on AI realism. PLUS: The hell of PHP2Shell
Read the newsletter here: https://www.platformer.news/machine-gods-manifesto-ai-realism/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from Platformer
Will the approach that beat Meta in New Mexico work against ChatGPT?
Calls for a new kind of slowdown were the talk of The Curve. PLUS: Slinking back to X
With safety questions still swirling, the company introduces a more business-focused take on agents
Three months ago, we began our podcast miniseries by asking how likely artificial intelligence is to take large numbers of jobs. Our first guest, Box CEO Aaron Levie, argued that mass disruption would be highly unlikely. And several subsequent guests, from Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman to labor economist Kathryn Ann Edwards, expressed similar skepticism about a labor wipeout.
For our penultimate episode, I wanted to visit someone running a version of that experiment in a somewhat unexpected place: the media business. Dan Shipper runs a website that reviews new technology alongside a product lab that’s building it — and for some time now I’ve wondered what it’s like to work in a place like that.