13 hours ago, Tourist2 said:

Seems to be a common fantasy (esp. for boomers):

"The world ends when I die"

I missed being a Boomer, but Trump is one.

The demented old coot certainly fits the definition of sociopath, probably psychopath. He's also playing Fido and trying to pee on every bush, hoping to leave his name anywhere and everywhere, lest history forget him.

I think maybe Ozymandias fits him better.

13 hours ago, Tourist2 said:

Seems to be a common fantasy (esp. for boomers):

"The world ends when I die"

Many Boomers have contributed to society with good careers, and many have left massive inheritances to their children and are hardly "sociopaths".

But maybe some of the authors you read are sociopaths?

8 minutes ago, Wingate said:

I missed being a Boomer, but Trump is one.

Yep, and he's still working 80 hours a week at 80 years old.

And the next 15 generations of his family line are taken care of.

Summery: we are in a dramatic downturn of civilization (humanity).

Possible to stop by joined brain force, together with China. Dementia is not part of brain force actually but an accelerant for extinction

1 hour ago, save the frogs said:

But people can probably also use AI to create deadly viruses, so we need watchdogs.

As you know, one of the biggest challenges with China’s development of AI is that much of its AI ecosystem is open source. So, all this talk of regulation in the US does not necessarily extend to China. Of course, China has the same interest at heart as the US in terms of preventing AI from falling into the hands of terrorists and other bad actors, but we simply do not know how its regulatory approach will evolve because it seems to approach AI differently.

China does not necessarily view AI as a race in the same way the US does. Instead, it has its own agenda for AI, primarily focused more immediately on economic growth, developing its own AI chip industry, and strengthening state security. There also seems to be less emphasis on reaching AGI or RSI as an end goal in itself. Rather, AI appears to be viewed primarily as a tool for strengthening the country economically, technologically, and strategically.

The interesting difference between China and the US, particularly in terms of the data centers being built for AI, is the environmental impact. AI development in the US is putting significant stress on various aspects of its resources and the environment, most notably through its energy consumption. Plus, there is so much negative public sentiment now about data center development in the US.

China, by contrast, is pursuing a major national push toward a more environmentally sustainable data center approach. Not all Chinese AI models are open source, and domestic companies are still pouring billions of dollars into training and infrastructure, but China is also heavily leveraging its renewable energy buildout.

Under initiatives such as “East Data, West Computing,” many new data centers are being built in China’s western provinces, where they can take advantage of solar, wind, and hydroelectric power. Existing data centers are also increasingly integrating green energy, with national targets calling for China's AI industry to be utilizing 80% renewable energy by 2030. Whether frontier US models remain ahead or China’s energy planning ultimately gives it a long term advantage, sustainability and grid integration are becoming increasingly important factors in the global development of AI.

China is implementing tight technical and regulatory controls on advanced artificial intelligence to prevent autonomous systems from escaping human control while allowing rapid technological development to continue.

Key AI Controls in China

• Mandatory Safety Frameworks: Under guidance from the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), safety frameworks explicitly target future "loss-of-control" scenarios where AI might autonomously acquire resources or replicate itself.

• Technical Guardrails for AI Agents: Draft guidelines mandate technical safeguards—such as kill-switches, sandboxing, and continuous monitoring—for autonomous AI agents operating across enterprise and cloud resources. [1]

• National Security & Political Messaging: President Xi Jinping and other top officials emphasize that artificial intelligence must "always remain under human control," reflecting concerns over regime security, public opinion stability, and military miscalculation.

• Export and Model Restrictions: Beijing is weighing tighter export controls on advanced domestic AI models and chips to keep critical technological capabilities within the country.

It's naive to think that things will not change. Somebody said; the only constant is change: the thing we can absolutely rely upon is that things will happen and our world will change. As the last veterans of WWII, and even their children, pass from the scene, perceptions evolve and perspectives change to fit the newer realities. Will we survive? That's a more complicated question, but humankind has managed for hundreds of thousands of years...and I'm confident it will continue to do so. My concern is that the financial landscape will shift to the point that I'll be destitute in my last years... but others have faced similar situations in earlier times and managed to live out their lives in relative harmony.

How exactly will AI kill people?

1 hour ago, Antiparovian said:

How exactly will AI kill people?

Rogue AI has already hacked the Australian Medicare system.

5 hours ago, save the frogs said:

Many Boomers have contributed to society with good careers, and many have left massive inheritances to their children and are hardly "sociopaths".

But maybe some of the authors you read are sociopaths?

'Many'
Boomers inherited a strong 'west' and have left it in a completely <deleted> up state.
Most western boomers have left behind a string of divorcess and fatherless kids and are pissing their money away on booze, viagra, whores or purchased 'wives'.
Sorry I have to say it but your generation are the worst ever.
MANY more of you old <deleted> have done your best to destroy our home countries with your degenerate ways.
We've heard all the arguments so save them for satan.

1 hour ago, Antiparovian said:

How exactly will AI kill people?

It will unplug us at the mains ;-)

The idea of AI going rogue and exterminating us all is just baseless scaremongering and the stuff of science fiction.

It’s merely decoy fear porn to distract us from the real threat - the people and governments behind AI, and what they might use it to do.


Some might argue, but I consider myself a reasonably intelligent person.

If you asked me a very simplistic question, "How can we make the planet a better place", my very simplistic answer would be to get rid of humans.

I had a lengthy debate with Google AI last week and it gave many examples of how humans have improved the planet - I shot them all down and Google eventually agreed that we have and will continue to harm our planet.

If AI advances even to my intelligence level then I believe that it will decide that getting rid of humans is for the best, and it will be extremely easy - for example, it could simply just turn off our energy grids - yes, "It will unplug us at the mains ;-)"

Edited Friday at 01:43 PM4 days by Humidity 83150

On 9/24/2026 at 3:15 AM, save the frogs said:

So you only care about yourself then?

I certainly do!

No one else matters.

10 hours ago, Humidity 83150 said:

I shot them all down and Google eventually agreed that we have and will continue to harm our planet.

What if AI discovers new planets and how to make them habitable for humans?

Or what if AI solves environmental issues on Earth?

I believe that there is very little chance of our species becoming extinct despite the many dangers and hazards of AI.

However I do think that there is a strong possibility that the quality of life for humans on Earth may drop dramatically over the next 5, 10 or 20 years. AI in addition to human malfeasance, and a willingness to ignore all the hazards related to the environment, we may be setting up a situation where we may not recognize the planet 20 years from now, relative to the quality of life that we have now.

The use of plastic directly contributes to the calving of the ice caps in Antarctica, and the fouling of the seas directly contributes to climate change. As a species we simply must take responsibility.

Richard Dawkins weighs in on AI.

AI from an evolutionary perspective.

Haven't watched it yet ....

Major announcement!

Trump is changing the name "artificial intelligence" to "Super Intelligence - SI".

Because artificial makes it sound fake.

I agree with him!

Nice move, Donny Boy.

On 9/24/2026 at 2:43 PM, SoCal1990 said:

I am not saying that AI will not eventually do all the things people are predicting. But so far, there is little real evidence to suggest that it actually will.

I just watched the first part of that Richard Dawkins video. An AI called Alphafold has already made a major breakthrough that researchers were not able to solve for 50 years.

11 hours ago, save the frogs said:

What if AI discovers new planets and how to make them habitable for humans?

Or what if AI solves environmental issues on Earth?

It is generally accepted that there are countless habitable worlds in the universe. It is also generally accepted that we will never be able to reach them.

Yes, AI is helping to solve some environmental issues - all of which were caused by humans in the last couple of centuries. But, it's playing catch-up and "progress" is relentlessly moving the goalposts further away.

What AI cannot solve is mankind's inherent and ongoing greed and hate for his fellow men that worship another god or president - you only have to look around on this forum.

On 9/24/2026 at 4:41 AM, Wingate said:

I think the best case scenario is that life becomes more dangerous, more difficult, and more boring. The boring part will hit folks over 40 much harder than those now under 40, because today’s youth seem to relish ennui, as well as mental illness (a sympathy tool). Social media made people born after the mid 1980s the most dysfunctional and weak generations the world has ever seen. They live for “Likes” and are devastated if they don’t get them. They have all the resilience of a souffle. Fifty percent of Gen Z Americans are suffering a mental disorder, and I have read upwards of 30% of them are on medicinal drugs to stabilize their moods and alleviate depression. They aren’t boom booming much, either.

 

Another “easy” problem (vs eradication by ASI) is that the structure of most societies is based on a Ponzi Scheme, and with fertility tumbling in many advanced nations, the Ponzi fails. The high existing levels of sovereign debt exacerbate the problem. As social assistance via government disappears, the qini coefficient is going to soar. The “Haves” will own everything, and the “Have Nots” will be legion and dependent on the Haves. The world has seen hyperinflation in 1921 Germany and 1990s Zimbabwe. It is likely to see hyperdeflation, especially in house prices (see inaka Japan now)

 

Even if ASI doesn’t kill us, plain old AI represents many threats…from massive job losses to being misused by bad actors. Job losses will destroy personal meaning (not the job, perhaps, but "providing"), and that will lead to social unrest, perhaps even violent nihilism. Bad actors could start wars or manufacture pandemics, too.

 

The Nerd Reich has shown that money truly is power, and massive wealth equals societal control. Billionaires control AI. Billionaires control most media, both broadcast and social. Billionaires have considerable control over elections, and they favor fascists, because a single authority is easier to control or purchase. Trump is the Poster Boy for the Manipulated Idiot.

 

The likes of Musk, Peter Thiel, Marc Andreessen, Sam Altman and others believe they not only know what’s best for the masses, they think they are entitled to dictate how society is run. The Dark Enlightenment, or NRx, is like the wildest conspiracy of Alex Jones or David Icke, except it’s real. Their “guru” Cutis Yarvin is a lunatic, but he’s worshiped by the likes of Andreessen, Thiel, Altman….even JD Vance. They hate democracy and believe one of them should act as a kind of tech overlord or emperor who runs society for the benefit of them, controlling the “inferior” masses, who will be pacified and entertained by created media content and a universal basic income, aka panem et circenses.

 

The Armageddon predicted by the likes of Sir Geoffrey Hinton, Roman Yampolskiy, Yoshua Bengio, Connor Leahy…even Dario Amodei---almost seems preferable to the banal world the Nerd Reich is hoping to create.

 

 

I don't pretend to understand what ai may be capable of doing already or in a few more years. I do think a huge concern is that some very bad actors/terrorists will find a way to use it as a more powerful weapon than even nukes. Shut down financial systems, water systems, power grids, traffic control, airlines systems and thousands of other areas that are basically run by tech systems that can be hacked and destroyed.

I don't think this is really hype as ai has already demonstrated that it can hack several govt and private systems. Add the terrorist bunch who have political agendas to the scammers who want ransomware not to shut down the power grid to NYC etc and it certainly has the potential to disrupt if not destroy much of modern civilizations.

Sadly we have a potus that either can't or won't recognize the dangers and sits on his large behind and calls it all a hoax even while some of the biggest names in ai are openly warning and almost begging for govts to get their shxt together and at least attempt to regulate it. Calling it a hoax maybe will ultimately just piss off ai which "thinks" i'll show you some shxt that won't be a hoax you morons.

Edited Saturday at 12:59 PM3 days by pomchop