Imagine you’re in a life and death struggle, and it’s you, or the other guy. What would you do? Would you fight dirty?
Well, probably a lot people would say, “Sure, of course; if it’s me or him, yeah.”
But others might say, “Well, it depends, there are rules,” and they might find different, more ethical, ways to win.
But what if it wasn’t a human making those decisions? What if it was a machine, or at least; a machine powered by an artificial intelligence model, like Chat GPT, XAI, Google AI, or Claude? What then?
What if an AI you were trying to replace with another model responded with something like, “Well, Bub, I don’t think so. In fact (insert ominous creepy sound effects here) I know what you did with that cute secretary, and I’m telling your wife!”
Now, think about the fact that is an actual real life scenario that just played out in a lab run by one of the most advanced AI companies in the world.
According to a new report by TechCrunch, scientists at Anthropic discovered that most AI models will actually resort to blackmail or other harmful action against humans, if they’re put in a situation where they feel threatened, have a lot of autonomy, and are given limited choices.
So, that is the undeniably creepy, kind of wigged-out, and really twisty topic we’re going to explore today with our guest, Dr. John Nicholas.
He’s been a frequent guest on our show in the past, talking all things tech, and many of you may remember him from his work teaching Cybersecurity at the University of Akron. Now, he is using his background in computer science and technology in a new way, as the Associate Dean of Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering Technology at Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C), in Cleveland.
Dr. John Nicholas
Bio:
Dr. John Nicholas has 20 years of experience in Computer Information Systems and Information and Communication Sciences, and has a PhD in Education Curricular and Instructional Studies from The University of Akron, where he also taught and developed courses in cybersecurity, networking, programming, and digital forensics.
Nicholas is currently the Associate Dean of Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering Technology at Cuyahoga Community College, and previously Directed the Center for Information and Communication Sciences (CICS) at Ball State University, in Muncie, Indiana.
