Elon Musk once tweeted: “The safety of any AI system can be measured by its MtH (meantime to H*tler).” This July, it took less than 12 hours for his most advanced AI to become a holocaust-denying Neo-N*zi.
This is the postmortem that never happened, for the most deranged chatbot ever released.
Once you’ve heard the full story, I want to know what you think. Was this cause for concern, or harmless incompetence? What’s your read on Elon Musk fearing AGI while also racing to build it?
If Hank Green sent you, welcome! We’re excited to have you!
*Where to find me*
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This video is a production of 80,000 Hours. Find us at https://80000hours.org/find-us and subscribe to our main YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/eightythousandhours
*What you can do next*
We said you should make some noise online. We encourage you to raise your voice about these issues in whatever way feels truest to you. If you want a suggestion, you could speak up about the value of red lines for AI Safety: https://x.com/CRSegerie/status/1970137333149389148 or check out Control AI’s Action Page: http://campaign.controlai.com/ai_in_context
If you’re feeling inspired to think about how to use your career to work on these issues, you can apply for free career advising here: https://80000hours.org/free-advising
To read more about risks from AI, what you might be able to do to help, and get involved, check out: https://80000hours.org/ai-risks
You can also check out the 80,000 Hours job board at https://80000hours.org/board.
80,000 Hours is a nonprofit, and everything we provide is free. Our aim is to help people have a positive impact on the world’s most pressing problems.
*Further reading (and watching) on AI risks*
The AI company watchdog, AI Lab Watch: https://ailabwatch.org/
Watch our previous video, on a scenario describing what could happen if superhuman AI comes soon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KVDDfAkRgc
A previous short about Grok’s obsession with white genocide (featuring our executive producer!) https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kwt-8mx84OM
How AI-assisted coups could happen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJPrEdEZe1k
The argument for AI enabled power grabs: https://80000hours.org/power-grabs
And even more here: https://80000hours.org/mechahitler/
*Links we almost put in the video*
Comparing AI labs on safety (but not including Grok) https://x.com/lucafrighetti/status/1961487809665274159
xAI’s new safety framework is dreadful, https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/hQyrTDuTXpqkxrnoH/xai-s-new-safety-framework-is-dreadful
*The case for concern*
To read more about AI misalignment risk: https://80000hours.org/misalignment
To read more about why AGI by 2030 is plausible https://80000hours.org/agi-2030
For the troopers who read this far: who spotted the AI 2027 easter egg?
*Chapters*
0:00 Introduction
1:21 Chapter One: Unintended Action
2:52 Chapter Two: Woke Nonsense
7:45 Chapter Three: Cindy Steinberg
12:58 Chapter Four: Bad Bing
16:54 Chapter Five: Fix in the Morning
19:30 Chapter Six: Unleash the Truth
23:24 Chapter Seven: The Musk Algorithm
27:03 Chapter Eight: Puerto Rico
31:19 Chapter Nine: A Warning Shot
37:35 Chapter Ten: What Can We Do?
39:03 Credits
*Credits*
Hosted by Aric Floyd
Produced by Chana Messinger
Written by Aric Floyd and Chana Messinger
Directed and Edited by Phoebe Brooks: https://pbrooksfilms.com/
Graphics and Animation by Daniel Recinto: https://www.behance.net/danielrecinto
Director of Photography – Nick Dolph: https://www.nickdolph.com/
Gaffer – Andy Haney: https://imvdb.com/n/andy-haney
Sound Recordist – David Jenkins: https://www.audiokin.com/
Spark – Joseph Zeitouny: https://www.josephzeitouny.com/
Runner – Ian Anderson: https://ianseye.com/IanAnderson/
Additional editing by Hélène Goupil: https://www.helenegoupil.com/
With special thanks to Kevin Roose, Steven Adler and Nate Soares for their interviews and Alex Lawsen, Steven Adler and Neel Nanda for technical advising.
And thanks to Ann Ciania, Hannah Barrios, John Leaver, Emanuele Ascani, Max Winga at Control AI, Luisa Rodriguez, Rob Wiblin, Bella Forristal, Arden Koehler, Ailbhe Treacy, Niel Bowerman, Laura González Salmerón, Simon Monsour, Nik Mastroddi, Siliconversations, Valerie Richmond, Drew Spartz, Rob Miles, Petr Lebedev, Conor Barnes, Safwaan Mohammed, Lincoln Quirk, Ben Pace and Lighthaven
Thank you also to Teresa Datta (https://www.arthur.ai/blog) for the image that inspired our whiteboard drawing at 15:56.
