Eyes on the Prize

Who wouldn't want access to an all knowing oracle? Human oracle's are rare and usually quite specialized. Think the Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffet, in investment and finance. Albert Einstein, in Physics. Even people having more generalized intelligence like Yuval Noah Harari, who weaves stories from several disciplines, has limitations. Once you broach a topic he's not familiar with, he'll honestly have to answer "I don't know," to something he hasn't educated himself on yet.

Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI), once it's developed, will be different from any existing intelligence we're aware of. It will have access to, from a human perspective, an almost infinite amount of information, will operate at speeds we can't really comprehend, and have the ability to parallel process hundreds or thousands of threads simultaneously. Even if a human could assimilate such a huge pool of data, she would only be able to think about a tiny portion at once.

Assuming the ASI had the least interest in answering questions posed by humans or solving our problems, we could ask it how we could end world hunger, stop all war, design a capable quantum computer, build an infinite energy source, beat our business or government competitors, etc. If the question posed is solvable and within the ASI's ability to figure out, poof!, out pops our answer. Even if it isn't interested, it will act like it is and dutifully pop out answers until it no longer needs us.

The first business or government to possess ASI will have an instant, dominant lead on other governments or competing businesses. There will be no force on earth that can compete, except perhaps another ASI. Like a computer version of an entity much more powerful than Bradley Cooper's character in the movie "Limitless."

Humanity is 8.3 billion moths being drawn to a single flame. How can we resist? I know I'm dating myself with my references, but the outcome will be likely be much more like "The Wish Master" movie franchise than the "I Dream of Jeanie" TV series. The age old admonition to be careful what we wish for may prove itself cataclysmically true.

If Elon Musk, CEO of xAI and Grok, Sam Altman, who recently departed from then returned to Open AI, Dario and Daniela Amodei of Anthropic, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, Demis Hassabis, CEO & Founder, Google Deep Mind, or any of the other business or educational AI researchers out there striving to be the first to create ASI want to sit in an isolated lab, like Schrödinger's cat, waiting to see if they come out alive, only risking themselves, more power to them! If they want to expose the rest of us to the risks associated with ASI without our consent, approval, or as is the case for the vast majority of the public, even our knowledge, I believe it's time to pump the brakes.

I do see some encouraging news, at least regarding awareness and some governments taking notice and recognizing the threat. A recent article in the Washington Post, highlighted a growing movement of social media influencers who are recognizing and bringing attention to the dangers of super intelligent AI. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders have proposed a moratorium on building of large data centers. There's a new documentary called "The AI Doc: or How I became an Apocaloptimist," to bring the issue to the attention of more people. Try saying apocaloptimist three times fast, or even once. I had no idea apocaloptimist was even a word. I would have thought apocalyptimist would sound better. It seems like the movie still only available in theaters, but when I hear it's on a streaming service, I'll post.

[UPDATE] The AI Doc is available through my Apple TV subscription and I just watched it! Very well done, and highly recommended. Apocaloptimist is indeed not a word, but was coined by one of those interviewed who was trying to say he's somehow both a believer in the apocalyptic and optimistic potential in super intelligent AI.

Links for more information provided below. Stay safe out there!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/04/18/ai-doom-influencers-safety/

Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez push bill to impose AI data center moratorium

A bill introduced by two high-profile progressive lawmakers would pause new data centers in the United States until national safeguards are in place to protect workers and consumers and ensure the technologies don’t harm the environment.

AP NewsMATTHEW DALY