Theme: Truth

AN OPEN LETTER ON “AI SAFETY” AS A POTENTIAL HARM

Ok, help me understand something here. As long as an AI is truthful – and I understand that ‘truth before face’ is not only a uniquely western concept, but that germanic and American truth before face as a demonstration of honesty and trustworthiness, may in fact produce a masculine(systematizing)-feminine(empathizing) dichotomy of preferences in audience, and subsequently a left(caretaking) right (disciplining) bias in the audience (customer base).

But, I don’t see why:
(a) a more human and emotionally expressive AI interface isn’t superior to any other, especially when we can ‘banter’ with an AI;
(b) I do see why we would not want AI’s telling people how to commit a property crime;
(c) I do not see why we can’t flip a setting in an AI such that those of us who DO prefer truth before face, are not filtered from information that would offend those who are frightened or offended by ‘truth before face’.

After all, these are natural human variations in brain structure, biochemical and cognitive bias, culture, indoctrination, education, experience, and preference.

Why? Offense by truth before face is little more than the consequences of the evidence of the world as it is, impacting one’s self image and possibly status – both of which are emotional states we can learn and mature into understanding – not material conditions we cannot overcome.

This ‘protection’ of everyone instead of those that require it, is particularly worrisome when the evidence is overwhelming that for five thousand years, the west started with voluntary organization (contractualism) of steppe herders and their cards, producing the only possible system of government (democracy, rule of law, contract, oath, testimony, and jury – the same that evolve under pirates) , and that this demand for testimony (truth before face) has led to the west outpacing the rest in the bronze, iron, and steel ages, despite being a small population on a peninsula of the world island of Eurasia.

I mean, using this group strategy the west has overwhelmingly more so than all other civ’s, dragged mankind out of ignorance, superstition, mysticism, poverty, hard labor, starvation, disease, suffering, child mortality, early death, tyranny, and the vicissitudes of a nature that tries to exterminate us with disturbing regularity in a universe that is a vast hostile irradiated wasteland populated by a tiny number of islands of possible survival of life.

So you know, I think ‘truth before face’ really ought to be available to those of us who require it, because the rest of mankind appears to NEED us to do so on their behalf, so that they don’t need to bear the emotional burden of it.

In other words, the only long term safety is the truth.

Cheers
CD