AI’s Deep Throat & Following the Real Money

Letter to Romans: AI’s old news so the sudden media frenzy & pols’ handwringing over its “existential threat to humanity” predictably comes as the next election nears. Rather than “when” AI will kill us all, aren’t the key Qs “how” this nonsense rebooted & “who” is behind it?

As Will Cain on his Tuesday Fox News show illustrated, it’s getting ridiculous how many times the government and/or political actors have captured peoples’ attention … and support … with sensational doomsday predictions. Recall the Y2K fiasco and “population bomb” of the 1970’s that turned out bogus. More rcently, think the "Coming Ice Age," the "Overpopulation Bomb" & "Annihilation via Nuclear Power." Swine Flu & Covid Mandates, too. Cain’s opening discussion debunked the bunkers this time by tracing how today’s AI scare was started by an AI researcher, then, run up the proverbial flagpole, mostly by Democratic pols in Congress & their activist allies in the anti-America industry. All within “roughly nine days.” With the additional help of my friend CHAT GPT, let’s begin at the beginning, as did Cain.

First, Cain & CHAT dug into an alarm raised by a former Anthropic researcher, Jacob Coxon, who opined online how AI systems MIGHT one day escape human control & cause catastrophic harm. The longstanding concern was quickly picked up by others who circulated the old premise via various platforms. In just a few days, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei warned AI systems could indeed potentially develop the ability to launch widespread cyberattacks. Within hours, Caine noted, a seemingly orchestrated wave of political leaders, from AOC & Bernie Sanders to Chuck Schumer issued statements blaming a “do nothing” Trump for this “existential threat.” They demanded a “pause” in AI development, while Communist China labored on in the vacuum. Of course, the researchers & bloggers weren’t the only ones “benefiting” from the exaggerated AI alarm. As in the past, Cain & CHAT suggest, the BIG Q is not only whether AI can pose a risk, but whether this “sudden, highly amplified existential-threat narrative is being used to advance particular financial, regulatory or political interests, both here & abroad. That’s always been a tough evidentiary row to hoe. But wasn’t it Deep Throat who supposedly advised journalist Woodward to “Follow the money”? BTW: Was THAT Watergate sop ever uttered outside a Hollywood script?

Davd Soul