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Comment by kordless | Hacker News Reader

At this point, I really don't think our government has any idea how to deal with what is coming.

Our government doesn't know how to deal with what happened a couple of decades ago, technologically speaking; a couple of decades at least.

Well, except for those pesky NSA and DARPA agencies, to name just two of many, that have access to technology you haven't even dreamed of yet.

Congress might be full of idiots or smart people trying to make you believe they're idiots, but don't for a moment think the federal government as a whole is technologically stunted.

It's much harder to write laws when the state of technology keeps changing day by day and also be technoliterate to the changes.

Certainly not but consider the level of dysfunction and complete lack of interdepartment cooperation. We have the NSA actively hacking other nation-states and our own private sector and then we have an FBI that resets an icloud password preventing them from getting a backup of data they desperately needed.

The NSA hacks anyone who seems interesting. But that, arguably, is their job. As they see it, anyway. The FBI isn't so high-tech, for sure. But they get help, eventually.

You're right, and I should have been clear that I meant the legislative branch in particular.

I used to work with these agencies and cool stuff almost never see's the light of day. Even within the well funded agencies, really breakthrough stuff almost never makes it to the people in the building - let alone to the public. So it doesn't really matter what they are doing.

It is foolhardy to underestimate the abilities of the most powerful organization on the planet.

A 7' tall simpleton with enormous strength is dangerous, and powerful. It would be unwise to underestimate them, but it would be always unwise to misinterpret the source and nature of that power.

Frankly, I don't think our government really has any idea how to deal with what is actually happening right now.

Yes they do: shoot, jail, or coerce everyone capable of producing advanced AI. Problem solved, if you're assuming that advanced AI is sufficiently dangerous that not making any at all is a better idea than taking a risk.

And governments will always want to avoid risks, especially risks that knock them out of their monopolies on force and economic power.

That won't happen because the industry controls our governments too much. There is a lot of value to be produced before the algorithms become really dangerous.

Moreover, controlling AI research is ever harder than nuclear research. Creating a technological disadvantage compared to rogue states without such regulations does not seem like a good idea.

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