Option 1
Every paper has to have 3 options they said. Its just how government works they said. It doesn’t matter if Option 3 is nonsensical, just give the Government Minister 3 options. 3 options and 1 recommendation, be clear which option you are recommending.
Its 1am and I have not eaten since 4pm. It was a muffin and a diet coke. It was all I could afford. This internship is unpaid.
I also feel like this options paper is above my pay grade, but the senior advisor needed to go home early to walk his dog. He left at 4.15pm. His dog has separation anxiety. He asked if I could stay to finish it.
I need the reference so I said yes.
The central question in the paper is should government give permission for open slather AI which will almost certainly result in the death and destruction of all mankind.
Option 1 is easy, yes it should. It also seems unlikely that anyone would recommend that option.
Option 2 is easy as well. It’s a flat no, we should not give permission for development of something that will lead to the death and destruction of all mankind.
I am big on Option 2.
I am studying at university, final year. After that, minimal job prospects, because I am studying one of ‘those’ subjects, the ones everyone likes to denigrate, Sociology. It is not helping me with this options paper.
The mooted third option, which has even made it into the press, is really a non-starter, but everyone in the office here seemed to like it. It is clear there is no way it could work. AI will result in the death and destruction of all mankind, except for those in London. To be clear when parliament is voting on this and they say all mankind, they just mean the UK. It’s a bit 18th century.
But the rest of the world is taking a vote as well, across different parliaments. The UN is asking for some kind of consensus. I think they said they’d take 33 percent for or against. Again a number that seems wrong.
I don’t know how we got to this point really. There was a campaign that governments should decide on extinction level developments and not tech bros. That feels right. This feels like maybe it should have been a referendum rather than an options paper though. And if it is an options paper, not one done by the intern at 1am, on an empty stomach.
I’m here for five weeks. Unpaid. I think I said that already. Not that pay matters because I am living with my parents, because no matter how much I earn I will never be able to afford more than a room in a share house. I will never own my own home.
They have literally just given it to the youngest person, who will understand all the tech speak. I am a ‘digital native’.
I was going for Option 2, but then I realised we already have nuclear weapons, so technically extinction level technology exists already. Is it ok to have extinction level technology if its controlled by government? Should that be an option? Everyone else in the meeting said no. Something about investment and capital and markets.
I won’t even take home enough from the job I get even if I manage to get one, to invest in anything, so I didn’t pay much attention. Good thing I live avocadoes.
It is by no means clear whether this extinction level AI is going to get rid of all humans or all organic life. I mean why just humans? Because we are the smartest, well so far as we know? That’s a bit arrogant though.
Especially given we are even thinking about inventing something that will kill us all, well something else that will kill us all I suppose. Frankly not sure the golden dormouse or the snowy owl or whatever doesn’t have us on this one.
If it’s a choice between us and the rest of the planet, is ‘us’ the right choice.
I have managed to figure out that London in and of itself can’t be saved, Option 3 is a no go, but obviously that is the one everyone currently prefers. It’s a balance between total human extinction and some human survival. All of politics is a compromise, even when that compromise is shot through with holes.
There is a secondary debate about whether they will move all the immigrants out of London, and move the ‘indigenous population’ in. I am still laughing. What are they talking about, will this be another disastrously stupid one for one scheme. Although I am endlessly curious to see how London manages when it is suddenly full of northerners. They are scrumming about trying to argue which department would be responsible for that.
Maybe I can get a job running that scheme. It doesn’t matter, any job will never be enough to pay down my student debt. Its such a big number. I can’t even think about it without sweating.
I feel like Option 2 is the one. We should not vote for the destruction of all mankind, but then here I am the unpaid summer intern, at 1am, the only person in the office, tapping away on my keyboard, writing the options paper. With no job prospects, no chance of home ownership and rising student debt.
I didn’t have any dinner, I had a late lunch at 4pm, a muffin and coke was all I could afford. Tubes aren’t even running to get me home tonight. I haven’t really enjoyed this internship. I feel like the dogs anxiety has been more important than mine. I am not sure what I want to do with my life, even if I could figure that out I probably can’t do it in this economic climate. It feels like there is a new war everyday. The world feels awful everywhere, all the time.
I know I shouldn’t. I know I shouldn’t. I will probably never own a house. I will work until I am 80 and still have no money on retirement. I have never had a boyfriend or girlfriend. I probably never will. I can’t even afford to have fun with anyone who is just a friend. I will have so much debt when I leave university that it will cloud my future forever.
There is just war after war after war and we can watch it like a spectator sport, but that is honestly people dying and no one seems to want to stop it or care. We can afford to feed people but we don’t. We all hate each other. It feels hopeless.
I know I shouldn’t. I know I shouldn’t.
I shouldn’t.
Sorry, I recommended Option 1.
Drop me a comment if you like this one.
A Tuesday Latte 