Thread

OpenAI bots meddled with multiple US Government agency sites

132 points · 196 comments · Betelbuddy

gizajob · 1790444203 · focus · HN ↗
Getting bored of these framings where the superintelligent sentient beings running freely inside OpenAI are doing things that the company has no control over. The headline should be:
OpenAI meddled with multiple US Government agency sites.
The bots are acting neither properly nor improperly, they’re acting as they’re being allowed or coordinated to act.
1. qarl · 1790446159 · focus · HN ↗
  > OpenAI meddled with multiple US Government agency sites.
  But that leaves out the most important information.
  EDIT: Oh, I guess the agent part isn't important then? Seems to me like that's the only thing anyone is talking about.
  1. gizajob · 1790446345 · focus · HN ↗
    If the headline was “Russian company meddled with multiple US government agency sites” I don’t think them pinning the blame on bots would make much difference.
    qarl · 1790446781 · focus · HN ↗
    I don't see much traction for the "pinning the blame on bots" theory outside the anti-AI conspiracy circles.
    Everyone else knows if your machine causes damage, you are responsible. Like it's been forever.
    mossTechnician · 1790447397 · focus · HN ↗
    Blaming bots as "rogue agents" is simply what the media regularly does, often echoing corporate verbiage. Here's an example from the AP.
    <a href="https://apnews.com/article/meta-ai-hacking-anthropic-irregular-openai-0e8061437da6779be962b24ac134a514" rel="nofollow">https://apnews.com/article/meta-ai-hacking-anthropic-irregul...
    You can find many more examples by searching major media outlets for words like rogue AI.
    qarl · 1790447627 · focus · HN ↗
    None of these stories are implying that the people running the bots are not ultimately responsible. That's the conspiracy theory part.
    mossTechnician · 1791086164 · focus · HN ↗
    The behavior of the executives in question paint that image wholistically. They act as if they are part of the investigation, actively trying to figure out who is responsible, because doing so connotes quite loudly that they believe they are not.

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