Thread

1. wewewedxfgdf · 1791070718 · focus · HN ↗

   Please explain exactly how all humanity could be wiped out.

   It's ridiculous - anyone who thinks about it for a minute or two will realize that its utterly impossible.

   Ordinary people/politicians don't understand AI so they turn off their rational mind and assume there is something super incredible some magical powers that they cannot understand that can destroy all humans.

   Even humans - the real risk to humanity - could not destroy all humans even if they tried. There is no plausible scenario.

   Even climate change and nuclear war and bio weapons - the most damaging mechanisms - would still only get some percentage of the people on earth.

   And if we are talking about Skynet and self replicating robots and Terminators - please, grow up.

   1. Sharlin · 1791070986 · focus · HN ↗

      We know pathogens that are extremely contagious, and we know pathogens that are extremely deadly. We also know toxins that are lethal at nanogram/kg doses. There's no reason to believe that a sufficiently advanced intelligence couldn't come up with a way to combine those traits.

      One plausible scenario is depicted in detail in "If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies" (Yudkowsky & Soares 2025), so I refer you to that.

      1. wewewedxfgdf · 1791071092 · focus · HN ↗

         Still too hand wavey - "some super bad virus and AI makes every human on earth infected".

         Unless you can detail exactly how this happens its still complete science fiction.

         1. 0xDEAFBEAD · 1791072151 · focus · HN ↗

            Why are you so insistent that people should post detailed plans for destroying the human race on public fora?

            I don't think it is necessary for the argument to work. Magnus Carlsen can be confident he will beat me at chess without giving a detailed explanation of every move he will make, in advance.

            1. wewewedxfgdf · 1791072393 · focus · HN ↗

               Because lots of powerful people are saying it is possible, and I am saying, oh yeah, tell me ONE way that is truly possible.

               If you make gigantic claims about some terrible disaster that might happen then I think you have the onus to give even one plausible explanation of how.

               1. 0xDEAFBEAD · 1791072787 · focus · HN ↗

                  >If you make gigantic claims about some terrible disaster that might happen then I think you have the onus to give even one plausible explanation of how.

                  Supposing I warned in 2015 that the world is awfully vulnerable to pandemics. You're not going to take me seriously until I try to predict in advance every aspect of how a pandemic like COVID-19 would unfold? Why? What would that achieve exactly?

                  You haven't given any strong reason to believe wiping out humanity would be difficult. Your big argument seems to be that you couldn't think of a plausible scenario, in two minutes. But many major historical events occurred which weren't necessarily possible to anticipate with two minutes of thinking.

                  1. wewewedxfgdf · 1791073295 · focus · HN ↗

                     You're arguing that "something bad might happen" - sure no problem.

                     You are ignoring that this is about "existential threat to humanity".

                     You're trying to support the argument that there is an existential threat to humanity by pointing to "something bad might happen".

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