Would the world leaders listen to a Terminator warning about the future?

[Tyzuris]

Basically assuming that a Terminator consisting of technology far beyond today's tech time traveled to today and warned that some specific AI systems in development will develop into fully sentient AIs that will eventually kill of half the human species. The Terminator makes a plea for our world leaders to halt these AI projects.

Will our world leaders listen to the Terminator?

 

[Spartan303]

If the Terminator can prove it, and by its own construction that should be proof enough. Then yes.

 

[Bear Ribs]

“Never argue with a man whose job depends on not being convinced.” -H. L. Mencken

 

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Will our world leaders listen to the Terminator?

Almost certainly not. Their wishful thinking would lead them to decrying it as a hoax and forgetting about it, even if there was proof. World leaders are too shortsighted and selfish. They sacrifice future generations so they can enrich themselves in the present.

 

[Bassoe]

Yes, but they'd draw entirely the wrong lessons. Instead of 'don't build skynet' they'll think 'if we can build and control skynet, we'll be unstoppable.'

One of my long term fears is for when large portions of the military - particularly ground forces - are automated. Because of the hard limitations of human beings, such a force could conceivably be far more lethal than human soldiers, while also being unfailingly loyal to its superiors. When the killing power of the state rests in the hands of a few elites, with no fear of disobedience, you're just the whims of the leadership away from tyranny.

When Skynet turns the Terminators loose on American citizens, rather than the start of the robot rebellion it will just be the machines following orders.

 

[Spartan303]

Yeah. Guess I was too optimistic.

@Bassoe has the right of it.

 

[PsihoKekec]

It's like the main job of politicians is to make the wrong decisions in order to give the future fiction writers inspiration.

 

[ATP]

It's like the main job of politicians is to make the wrong decisions in order to give the future fiction writers inspiration.

Like in some british comedy,when premier asked about his future actions answered,that he must carefully choose worst possible outcome.

 

[Aaron Fox]

It's like the main job of politicians is to make the wrong decisions in order to give the future fiction writers inspiration.

No, it's the main job of the modern politician to stay in office and fuck all else outside of doing things that would make the former impossible (like, oh, insurrection or treason). This produces a stupidly short-sighted political framework... which causes the above to be seen.

 

[bintananth]

It's like the main job of politicians is to make the wrong decisions in order to give the future fiction writers inspiration.

Fiction has to make sense. Reality doesn't.

 

[ATP]

No, it's the main job of the modern politician to stay in office and fuck all else outside of doing things that would make the former impossible (like, oh, insurrection or treason). This produces a stupidly short-sighted political framework... which causes the above to be seen.

That is why monarchy is better.With exception of madman,they want strong state for their children.

 

[bintananth]

That is why monarchy is better.With exception of madman,they want strong state for their children.

The greatest strength of a constitutional monarchy is that everybody knows who has the final authority when it comes to saying "we're doing this" or "we're not doing this." even when "we're doing this" is the default rubber-stamp response to what the people want to do.

The greatest weakness of a constitutional monarchy is that you sometimes get an inbred blithering idiot who ok's things which shouldn't have even made their way to his desk in the first place or who regularly says "no" to things that should go foreward.

 

[Aaron Fox]

The biggest problem is that to be frank, we don't pay the government enough and don't have enough people working the bureaucracy.

It's a correlation that the better paid your civil servants are (and the less they're overworked), the less corrupt they'll be funnily enough.

 

[Aldarion]

The biggest problem is that to be frank, we don't pay the government enough and don't have enough people working the bureaucracy.

It's a correlation that the better paid your civil servants are (and the less they're overworked), the less corrupt they'll be funnily enough.

Yet Austria-Hungary had civil administration / bureaucracy that was far less corrupt and far more efficient than most modern states (especially Croatia) despite it also being, relative to population, far smaller.

So the problem must also be in democracy as such.

Basically assuming that a Terminator consisting of technology far beyond today's tech time traveled to today and warned that some specific AI systems in development will develop into fully sentient AIs that will eventually kill of half the human species. The Terminator makes a plea for our world leaders to halt these AI projects.

Will our world leaders listen to the Terminator?

Oh, they will. Then they will immediately proceed to build Skynet. It is not in human nature to properly assess long-term dangers (or even short-term ones), and politicians' jobs in a democracy depend on literally closing their eyes to any real problems.

 

[Jormungandr]

Yeah, they'll be complete dumbasses and build Skynet in an accelerated time-frame, even if the resulting Skynet incarnation is technologically inferior compared to one built in the next two/three decades.

As for proving itself a machine? Do what Uncle Bob did in Judgement Day: Tear off the synth-flesh and reveal its endoskeletal hand.

 

[PsihoKekec]

The biggest problem is that to be frank, we don't pay the government enough and don't have enough people working the bureaucracy.

You can never have enough bureaucrats and you can never pay them enough. The main aim of bureaucracy is to perpetuate bureaucracy and no matter how well you pay them, they will always demand more. Right now in most countries the majority of the bureaucrats are simply part of the bloat, doing bureaucratic work for the sake of bureaucratic work. Adding people and pay increases will solve nothing, it will only drive up the deficit and furtherly empower the bureaucratic leviathan, you need radical restructuring of the bureaucratic gordian knot, but no one is willing to do it, because bureaucracy is too powerful.

 

[Aaron Fox]

You can never have enough bureaucrats and you can never pay them enough. The main aim of bureaucracy is to perpetuate bureaucracy and no matter how well you pay them, they will always demand more. Right now in most countries the majority of the bureaucrats are simply part of the bloat, doing bureaucratic work for the sake of bureaucratic work. Adding people and pay increases will solve nothing, it will only drive up the deficit and furtherly empower the bureaucratic leviathan, you need radical restructuring of the bureaucratic gordian knot, but no one is willing to do it, because bureaucracy is too powerful.

That isn't exactly the case. The size of the bureaucracy is every growing because the complexity of the engines that keep civilization afloat keep growing. Remember, the major powers of the Bronze Age had immense bureaucracies due to the fact that they need people to keep the food flowing. These sorts of systems (at least, to the immense size) wouldn't really appear again until the Roman Empire (and throughout the Middle Ages this very bureaucracy would continue via the Byzantines), mind you.

We've seen what happens if you work to slim down the bureaucracy, and it only caused us problems.

But this is going to be a derail.