I don’t have an “end goal” as far as “AI” is concerned.
I do have a short-term goal of contributing to the establishment of a humanity that’s at least smart enough to grasp the fundamental and unresolvable differences between language modeling and reasoning, but I have no particular hope even of that.
Oh definitely.
I didn’t shift to the “breeze in and get another Nobel medal” theory because I changed my mind about Israel likely having plenty of material with which to blackmail the rapist-in-chief - I have no doubt that they do. I just think that appealing to his ego and his childlike desire for recognition would’ve been seen to be a better approach, and having a Nobel winner in prison in Iran was just too perfect an opportunity to miss.
And yes to the blowback, but I’d go much further. I think that if he thought he was cornered and his ego was at risk, he wouldn’t even hesitate to start a nuclear war if nothing else seemed likely to save him from exposure.
I wish I was kidding.
On reflection, I think you’re right. I didn’t think of it as affectionate by any means, but I can see how it could appear that way, and at this point, appearances are far too important.
I thought at first that he was likely being blackmailed by Israel - it’s near certain that the Israeli government has at least as much evidence of his serial child rape as the US government does.
Mostly based on the way the whole war played out though, I tend more toward a different theory now.
I think Bibi convinced him that overthrowing Iran would be a cake walk - that just like Venezuela, they could go in fast and bomb the shit out of things and get rid of the Ayatollah and take over, and then Trump could get Narges Mohammadi out of prison and she’d be so thankful that she’d give him her Nobel medal, and then he’d be the bestest President ever in the history of ever because he’d have two Nobels (well - technically, he’d only have two Nobel medals, and claiming that he has a Nobel because he has a medal is sort of like claiming he’s a Super Bowl champion because he has a ring, but he’s too stupid to realize that).
And everything played out just as intended, right up to the point that Iran didn’t collapse and instead just calmly set about replacing the Ayatollah and systematically bombing American bases and property all around the Middle East while closing down the Strait of Hormuz. And he’s been desperately flailing around and throwing tantrums ever since, because that wasn’t what Bibi promised.
It’s as if some notable proportion of humanity suddenly switched to eating nothing but vaguely food-shaped plastic, then a study concluded that that might have negative effects nutritionally.
No shit?
Chrono Trigger - SNES, 1995
I’m going to have to bookmark this one so I can link it the next time some STEMbro starts lecturing me about whatever it is that he thinks science has “proved” about consciousness or perception or free will/determinism or…