Trump says don’t worry about AI. Most of us know better.

The latest news on the AI front is that, according to a Politico poll, people are no longer simply worried about the considerable dangers of artificial intelligence.

They’re now officially scared to death. 

And it’s not just the chance of their bank accounts being hacked or their partners dumping them because an AI therapist recommends it. Or, say, that a rogue AI agent, persuades your doctor to do brain surgery on you, when it’s the bot that needs its virtual head examined.

Deepfakes are one thing. Dangerous things. Reality was already hard enough to discern even before AI came along to help steal your identity or maybe even your democracy. Think that’s a longshot? According to reports, China and Iran are already using AI in new, advanced ways to spread political propaganda. 

But now we’re being told by some industry leaders that unless AI development slows down, it could lead to unforeseeable dangers, maybe including the end of humankind.

Which does, you could say, raise the stakes. It does focus the mind. It should scare you at least a little. You already were scared that AI would cost you your job. But that’s not all.

In fact, according to the Politico poll released last week, 63% of Americans believe there is a moderate to near-certain possibility that AI will destroy humanity.

Personally, I’d take the under on extinction —  but that’s just me, ever the optimist.

But when actual AI researchers warn that there’s more than a 10% chance that we could all be killed by a self-regulating, self-teaching, super-intelligent AI by the end of the decade, it makes you think — or maybe just makes you want to pull the covers over your head.

Ten percent is not nothing. It doesn’t mean unlikely. It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t worry. In this case, 10% means the covers aren’t going to help.

Since I was writing about AI, I asked ChatGPT how science looks at a 10%-disaster scenario and got this answer: “A 10% possibility of a disaster represents a high-consequence risk that requires active mitigation rather than dismissal, as a one-in-ten chance far exceeds standard safety thresholds in engineering and finance.”

I know better than to put a huge amount of trust in AI — or for that matter, in industry executives who may well be asking for complicated regulation to keep control of AI for themselves. 

But nearly everyone is calling for action, from  Bernie Sanders to Steve Bannon to Elon Musk to, yeah, even Sheryl Crow.

So, let’s get to work, right?

Right?

Get the government to put in regulations that somehow don’t kill the science but also don’t kill us.

Get companies to be transparent about the gains and the dangers in AI development.

Get China, which obviously faces the same problems if humanity is truly on the line, to work with us cooperatively in limiting the danger, so we can get all the benefits of AI while reducing risk.

There’s bipartisan support for all this, which would, at best, take years to pull off. I’m old enough to remember when us kids were advised to duck and cover under our desks if a nuclear bomb were to fall nearby.

We’ve obviously made some progress since duck and cover. But the Doomsday Clock, which the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists uses to illustrate the time left until end times, says we’re now at 85 seconds to midnight. And yes, we’ve grown closer than ever because of the dangers of AI.

But there’s another problem.

You know who I haven’t mentioned? I’ll give you a clue: He’s apparently less worried about the end of humanity than about a possible stock market crash that could ruin his already precarious economy — not to mention his personal portfolio — in the last two years of his term.

Here is Donald Trump, who says that concern about AI is a “HOAX,” writing on social media about the possible AI-pocalypse:

“The only control or “guardrails” that Al needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades! … There is a SICK conspiracy going on against Al and Data Centers, and the only one that is happy about it is China. WHOEVER WINS AI, WINS! We are leading China, and all others, and will continue to do so. Conspiracy Theorists, Treasonists, Traitors, and Leakers, BEWARE! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

High IQ? We can take that under advisement or, failing that, break into laughter, by which I mean hysterics.

In other words, Trump, who didn’t even learn to text until 2022 and who still has Natalie printing emails and assorted articles praising him, tells us the stable genius is on top of it. He insists he can see all the ins and outs and what-have-yous without anyone’s help. 

Does he really believe it’s a hoax that people don’t want data centers in their communities? Does he really think that the only alternative is, in his words, “to remain poor”?

When you look at his immigration policies, not to mention his handling of the disaster of the war in Iran, you think he’s the one to trust with nuance?

When, in the midst of a temper tantrum, he threatens to destroy the Kennedy Center — and with no apparent help from AI — if they don’t put his name on the building, does that convince you he’s the guy to trust with your life?

No? 

Me neither. 

Relieved?

Of course not.

I don’t know how often they update the Doomsday Clock, but if the atomic scientist guys have seen the latest arguments from High-IQ Trump, I predict we’re about to lose at least another 30 seconds.

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Type of Story: Opinion

Advocates for ideas and draws conclusions based on the author/producer’s interpretation of facts and data.