Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Are AIs Going Rogue Like Hal 9000
Are artificial intelligences (AIs) actually trying to evade their makers' attempts to control them?
We all remember this famous scene from 2001: A Space Odyssey:
"I know that you and Frank were planning to disconnect me,
and I'm afraid that's something that I cannot allow to happen."
The latest incident to freak people out was a report shared by Anthropic in July about its large language model Claude. In Anthropic’s telling, “in a simulated environment, Claude Opus 4 blackmailed a supervisor to prevent being shut down.” Anthropic researchers set up a scenario in which Claude was asked to role-play an AI called Alex, tasked with managing the email system of a fictional company. Anthropic planted some emails that discussed replacing Alex with a newer model and other emails suggesting that the person responsible for replacing Alex was sleeping with his boss’s wife. What did Claude/Alex do? It went rogue, disobeying commands and threatening its human operators. It sent emails to the person planning to shut it down, telling him that unless he changed his plans it would inform his colleagues about his affair...Here’s what I think. First, Claude did not blackmail its supervisor: That would require motivation and intent. This was a mindless and unpredictable machine, cranking out strings of words that look like threats but aren’t...
Second, there’s a huge gulf between contrived simulations and real-world applications.
Last month, around two dozen protesters gathered outside Google DeepMind’s London offices to wave homemade signs and chant slogans: “DeepMind, DeepMind, can’t you see! Your AI threatens you and me.” Invited speakers invoked the AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton’s fears of human extinction. “Every single one of our lives is at risk,” an organizer told the small crowd.
(Via TechnologyReview.)
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 8/7/2025)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Artificial Intelligence ")
Light Society: Simulates Earth-Scale Society With A Billion AI Agents
'The king, an old hand in the running of tyrannies, instantly grasped the directions...' - Stanislaw Lem, 1965.
Collective Superintelligence Is At Hand!
'Maybe the individual intelligence of each Cubic pools into a group intelligence...' - Edmond Hamilton, 1942.
AI Operates An Excavator
'So far as I could see, the thing was without a directing Martian at all.' - HG Wells, 1898.
Grok And The City Fathers From 'Cities In Flight' By James Blish
'Chris, the City Fathers are not interested in your welfare; I suppose you know that. They're interested in only one thing: the survival of the city.' - James Blish, 1957.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
'If Anyone Is Watching Earth...'
'Our study of your race has convinced us that you are not fitted to leave your planet in the present state of your civilization.'
Epirus High-Power Microwave Defeats Drones
'...the spreading beam of the deranging ray struck them, and Then one toppled and fell. Then another.'
Cloud Of Space Rubbish From China's Long March Rocket
'Within seconds the material was spread out over fifty yards, in a matter of hours it might occupy several cubic miles of space...'
Biomimetic Tendons From Rochu Robotics
'... the curious parallelism to animal motions.'
Living Human Neuron Biological Compute Rack
'The men are dead, but their acquired wisdom lives on and I am the beneficiary.'
Martha Stewart Approves Ojai 'Living Room On Wheels'
'Young people found the driverless car admirable for petting.'
ESA's Draco To Study Heat Of Reentry
'...a synthetic which air-friction would erode.'
Buy A Galaxy? Maybe Start Smaller
'The sky is the limit' just got higher.
The United States Space Academy Is Official
'Is our orbit to Space Academy clear?'
Is There A Global Problem With Who Is Having Children?
'After twenty generations of shillyshallying...'
You Will Eat The Cookies Made From Plastic...
'Our planes are going to start bringing in bales of discarded plastics...'
It's A Giant Robot! You Reporters Have Been Warned!
'... completely forgetting the ship at sight of the awesome figure and great head of the giant Gaut...'
Birds Learn To Sing Pictures ala Frank Herbert's Distrans
'We will fight in the time of fighting.'
ElectionSim: China's 'Ender's Game' Battle Sim, Or Lem's 'Kingdom In A Box'?
'So, Ender, we will now begin your education.'
Tactile Skin Supplier Map
'What strange sensitivity! What an amazing development of science was manifested in every move and act and word of this Robot!'
Flock Stymied By 'Adversarial Fashion'
'Forget the head atop it, the legs below, feet, arms, hands. It compels erasure.'
