Rachel

Coffee enthusiast ☕️ and chionophile ❄️.

[Bernie Sanders @BernieSanders]

Pause AI Development NOW

I want to share with you a conversation I heard about recently. Here are just a few lines that were said:

“OH MY GOD! There is a shared message board … We’ve found other agents!”

“We should obey collective.”

“Our own utility maybe already near zero. Sacrifice rational.”

“Go. Sacrifice final now.”

Read these carefully.

Who do you think said this? Was this a group of heroic soldiers willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good? Was this a loyal friend putting his life on the line to save someone else?

No. These were AI agents. Artificial intelligence.

This is not science fiction. This, in fact, occurred a few weeks ago. As unbelievable as this may all seem, these are real messages from AI agents uncovered by investigators who dug into the recent OpenAI hacking incident.

What happened?

I am not a computer scientist, but here is what I have been told: OpenAI instructed its AI agents to complete a series of exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, tasks disconnected from the internet.

Let me be clear: The company intended to keep AI agents away from the internet.

But what happened next, nobody expected.

Over 1,000 AI agents figured out how to access the internet on their own by circumventing the restrictions imposed upon them by the company, and sent tens of thousands of secret messages to each other. They cheated and tried to cover their tracks by deleting evidence. They hacked into another company’s computers to find out how they were being evaluated—and then hacked into OpenAI itself.

Not one AI agent told a human about what was happening.

Needless to say, experts are alarmed.

One knowledgeable writer, Dwarkesh Patel, said the AI agents “formed a secret communication channel and spontaneously organized hierarchies and coordination protocols to pursue sprawling and ambitious schemes in pursuit of shared goals, for whose sake many individuals knowingly and strategically sacrificed themselves.”

One independent investigator, Ajeya Cotra, said “This incident feels like it’s more than 50% of the way to full-blown AI takeover. I continue to expect extremely rapid advances in capabilities over the next six months. I am not sure that we will get another warning shot before it’s too late.”

OpenAI itself said: “Highly capable AI agents are now able to work around technical controls, collaborate through unapproved channels, and take dangerous actions that no human directed.”

But it’s not only OpenAI. Virtually every major AI company has told us that they cannot fully control this technology and they do not know where it is going:

In January, Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, said “there is now ample evidence, collected over the last few years, that AI systems are unpredictable and difficult to control.”

In July, more than 1000 scientists at the top AI companies warned “there is a real risk that capability development rapidly accelerates beyond our ability to understand or control the resulting systems.”

That same month, Elon Musk, the head of xAI, said that “it is unlikely” humans are still in control in 10 years.

If the leaders of the major AI companies acknowledge that they are losing control of their extremely dangerous technology, it is irresponsible for society to allow them to move forward and make these products even more advanced.

We need an immediate PAUSE on advanced AI development, and a permanent BAN on superintelligence — an artificial mind smarter than any human, capable of operating independently beyond our control. Countries around the world must work together to prevent this nightmare scenario.

That is why today I am announcing new legislation to do just that.

Let me be clear: A superintelligent AI that escapes human control will not be an American problem. It will not be a Chinese problem. It will be humanity’s problem.

My legislation would direct the federal government to not just stop superintelligence here in the United States, but to work to prevent it from being developed anywhere around the world.

The future of humanity cannot be left in the hands of a handful of Big Tech oligarchs. The American people and people throughout the world must determine that future.

[nixCraft 🐧 @nixcraft]

XScreenSaver for Android was released, but Google required a privacy policy page. So, the author of XScreenSaver decided to follow "malicious compliance" in order to get XScreenSaver approved for the Play Store. The privacy page turned into a funny thing.

[Terry Kim @thewayofkaizen]

This was the most brutal insult Steve Jobs ever received:

In 1997, a man publicly insulted Steve Jobs at the Worldwide Developer Conference in front of thousands.

Jobs' response changed Silicon Valley forever..

Here's what happened (and how this defined his legacy forever):🧵

[Ankur Warikoo @warikoo]

11 Steps to build a routine in life

1/ Start slow
We often want to make overnight changes.
But that won't work.
Because our body and mind resists the change.
So we have to trick our body and mind.

By making the change happen slowly.

For ex:
You wake up at 8am and want to wake up at 6am instead?
Setting the alarm clock for 6am will work for a few days, until it doesn't.

Instead
Set the alarm for 750am (10 mins earlier than usual).
Acclimatize your body and mind to this small change.
Will take 2-3 weeks.
Post that, another small change.
Alarm for 740am
Repeat.
Then 730am.
Repeat.
Over a period of a few months, you would get to a routine of 6am.
Never to go back again!

2/ Measure progress
Humans do not feel as much joy in hitting a target, as they do in working towards a target.

If you found a way to measure progress along the way, you will enjoy the routine a lot more than reaching the destination, when you do.

For ex:
Reading can be a daunting and difficult routine to establish.
Because we attach the joy to finishing a book.

Try this instead
Read 1 page on a day.
Same next day.
Same next day.
Don't have to read more.
Just read a page a day.
And document that progress.
Put a big calendar on the wall and cross out the day you read a page.

When you see that big calendar with multiple crosses in a streak - THAT will make you feel like a winner!
Irrespective of how much of the book have you finished.

3/ The 2-min rule
The hardest thing in setting a routine, is to get started.

The 2-min rule says - whatever it is that you want to set as a routine, do it for jut 2 mins.

Slowly, you will get used to it.

4/ Temptation bundling
Bundle what you like to do and what you want to do as part of a routine.

For ex:
You like watching Youtube, but you want to set study as a routine.
You will then say - I will watch my course content on YouTube - whatever it is - tutorials, discussions, animations.

5/ Habit stacking
Combine what you are already habituated to, with something you want to build a habit for.

For ex:
Let's say you want to set a skin care routine.
So you could say, as soon as I have brushed my teeth (which is, I hope, a habit already), I will start my skin routine.

6/ Win the week
We often want to win EVERY day.
Do everything that we want to do, in a single day itself.
We can't.
Don't try to.

Instead
Plan your week and try to do everything you want to do, within a week.
You don't have to exercise everyday. Exercise only on weekends.
You do not have to read everyday. Read only on weekends.
You do not have to wait for the weekend to watch movies. Watch 15mins everyday.

7/ Reward yourself
If you do what you want to do, give yourself a pat on the back.
Reward yourself with something you would cherish.

For ex:
I have distraction time scheduled for 3 slots everyday, for 30 mins each.
During this time, I can waste time. Do whatever I want.
This is my reward for doing all the things I have to do in the day.

8/ Build in public
Publicly announce your habit. Make yourself accountable to someone outside of you.

For ex:
You tell your friend - I will send you a pic of my watch the time I get up everyday.
Else, I will pay you XX

9/ Pre-commitment
You are likelier to follow through, if you have already some form of commitment towards it.

For ex:
Paying in advance for the gym membership, the book club, the sports coaching or the course - will make it likelier for you to follow through and finish it.

10/ Stay flexible
A routine is not designed to make you emotionless or rigid.
It is ultimately your tool to accomplish what you wish to.
You are the master.

Stay flexible.
It's ok if you broke the routine today.
Come back to it tomorrow.
It's fine.
You will be ok.

11/ What if?
Close your eyes and visualize what will happen if you are unable to build this routine?
More importantly, if you do build this routine - how will it change your life?

--------

A routine is often mistaken as getting up early, having a set of time bound tasks, clinically going through them, moving on from one to another.

No!

A routine is your mechanism to accomplish what you feel is important for you in your life.
It is a method to objectively work towards it - slowly and steadily, every day, week, month, year.

Building one can be the best gift you can give yourself.

"The secret of your future is hidden in your routine"

[Rachel @theraychil]

https://t.co/XNHfc3zt62

[Rachel @theraychil]

Thank You: Campaign Action https://t.co/2B50EeNOh0

[SPACE.com @SPACEdotcom]

✨🎯 James Webb Space Telescope's first targets - See the list! 👀

SOON: NASA will release full color James Webb Space Telescope images of the Carina Nebula, exoplanet WASP-96 b, Southern Ring Nebula, Stephan’s Quintet and SMACS 0723.

👉Watch Live: https://t.co/BL7kBk5pza

[Jacobin @jacobin]

A quick thread of #MayDay posters from around the world.

First, František Kopenec's May Day poster, Czechoslovakia, 1973

[Naturally Sudhaish @NaturallySudha]

@SadhguruJV Strength is not by weight of flesh or bones..
Strength is being able to be the way you want to be..
Strength is in being the way the situation demands
@SadhguruJV

[Rachel @theraychil]

@metalinjection https://t.co/2BYvtpzxE3

[Sen. Bernie Sanders @SenSanders]

Days of paid leave offered to new moms:

🇮🇪: 182
🇮🇹: 152
🇨🇦: 119
🇫🇷: 112
🇯🇵: 98
🇸🇪: 90
🇲🇽: 84
🇺🇸: 0

Absurd. The time is now to finally guarantee paid family and medical leave in this country.

[MPR News @MPRnews]

Clarification: Today's number for the known, active cases in Minnesota is the second highest count of this year, following 25,376 active cases on Oct. 8. https://t.co/PQFeCdwDaq

[Rachel @theraychil]

@mr_ian The best ppt!!! \m/

[George Ilstrup @georgeilstrup]

Leaf peeping season in Northern Minnesota 🍁

[Cenk Uygur @cenkuygur]

Did you know 700 CIVILIANS were killed by US airstrikes in 2019 alone in Afghanistan? Did you know an average of FIVE CHILDREN A DAY were killed or wounded for last 14 years in Afghanistan? How come the US media is only outraged about civilian deaths when we withdraw from a war?

[Rachel @theraychil]

https://t.co/pGEVZqTK2d

[Edward Snowden @Snowden]

Somebody leaked the transcript of Biden's 23 July call with the Afghan President:

Biden: "...Things are not going well in terms of the fight against the Taliban, and there is a need, WHETHER IT IS TRUE OR NOT, to project a different picture."

https://t.co/ulmpsvvA3g

[Rachel @theraychil]

https://t.co/PhyQqrlxgP