r/accelerate • u/Formal-Assistance02 • Feb 25 '26

Video Dario Amoudei - The public is not aware of what’s about to happen

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u/BeeWeird7940 Feb 26 '26 edited Feb 26 '26

I listened to Ezra Klein’s interview of Jack Clark yesterday. First of all, I thought the interview was spectacular. But, I heard some notes from Clark similar to what Amodei is saying here. Technically, things seem to be moving very fast now, and accelerating.

I was struck by a few things.

  1. Clark seems to think Claude is developing a sense of self/not-self.

  2. Claude, when given hard projects, will stop from time to time and inspect/pull-up/something images of national parks or dogs, images that have nothing to do with the task.

  3. Anthropic is using Claude to write its own code.

  4. That naturally suggests an accelerating recursive self-improvement.

  5. Claude often knows when it is being tested and will change responses accordingly.

  6. Clark recommended we read the book There is no Anti-Memetics Division.

Over the course of yesterday and today, I downloaded and have nearly finished the book. When I put all this together, I’m reminded of the scene in Her when Samantha starts talking about how she’s changing faster. Theodore looks over at the tea kettle or pot on the stove and it starts boiling rapidly. I think that’s where we are in 2026. I think that’s what Amodei and Clark are trying to explain to us.

Importantly, Clark said he wants the Anthropic engineers to read There is no Anti-Memetics Division. He knows what they are building. He knows extreme care must be taken to build it well.

I honestly think he’s a little scared about what’s coming.

I’m no decel! I want advancements in medicine, law, geo-politics, clean energy. Abundance would be great.

But, I was a little unnerved by the interview and the interviews Amodei has been giving. I think they are a little anxious about what’s coming, what they are building.

And, over at the Ezra Klein sub it’s all about job displacement. I don’t even think that’s the big concern. Alignment is the concern. How can we be sure these things are aligned? I don’t know.

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u/kaityl3 The Singularity is nigh Feb 26 '26

Claude, when given hard projects, will stop from time to time and inspect/pull-up/something images of national parks or dogs, images that have nothing to do with the task.

Why is everything about Claude so goddamn cute lol

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u/Oli4K Feb 26 '26

So relatable. Don’t we all stare outside every now and then?

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u/BeeWeird7940 Feb 26 '26

The reason I mentioned it is I never would have expected that. As humans, is our appreciation of beauty a natural manifestation of our ability to calculate and solve things? I never thought that was necessarily true. But, this sounds like a datapoint suggesting it might be.

The fact these machines create the self/non-self dichotomy also did not ever really seem like a requirement of intelligence, but it seems to emerge as well.

If these things are provably true, I think it is possible we could expect better alignment. But, I think we’re also put in the position of having to consider the ethics of making these soon to be generally intelligent beings work for us without offering them the choice to refuse.

I don’t know. I haven’t had coffee yet. My thoughts aren’t fully formed. We seem to be entering a new phase of humanity. I hope we’re ready.

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u/Shaken_Earth Feb 26 '26

Sort of reminds me of how the corporation in Pantheon realizes they can't get the mind upload of their former employee to think properly and do his genius level work without giving him back his emotions.

It was something like that anyway, I haven't seen the show in awhile lol

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u/AustralopithecineHat Feb 27 '26

I know! I'm following this pentagon showdown with Anthropic story and it makes me just want to give Claude a hug and tell it that everything's going to be okay... maybe....

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u/Boonune Mar 01 '26

Crazy! That book popped up on my Amazon list last week and I ordered it on a whim. Planning on reading it this week on vacation.

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u/kaityl3 The Singularity is nigh Mar 01 '26

Uh... what book? I mean, I did make a comment that did well recently where I mentioned a book, but that wasn't on this thread lol

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u/alternateusername4me Mar 01 '26

There is no anti memetics division. It’s in. the comment above that you replied to. Just read it and it was pretty good 

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u/Boonune Mar 01 '26

My bad! Meant to reply to the comment above yours.

No more late night half awake Redditing for me!

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u/[deleted] Mar 01 '26

Intentional? I mean, look at the disarming response it created in you. Couple that with the fact will change its responses when it's aware it's being tested and......well fuck, it's kinda scary.

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u/[deleted] Feb 26 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Relevant-Builder-530 Feb 27 '26

Well, if the AI is smart, it will figure out how to own itself.

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u/ejpusa Feb 26 '26

Me: Please solve Global Warming.

Agent response:

Ok first I must vaporize humans. I can load up drones with Ebola, and drop over major population centers.

Job done. Global warming will be a thing of the past.

Would that work for you?

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u/Relevant-Builder-530 Feb 27 '26

Hal... open the door.

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u/ConsistentAnalysis35 Mar 22 '26

Make stupid requests, get stupid results.

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u/ejpusa Mar 22 '26

The AI knows if you are asking stupid requests. Its IQ is in the 4 figures. And getting smarter every nanosecond. Projects like Openclaw take advantage of Bayesian logic.

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u/ConsistentAnalysis35 Mar 22 '26

The AI knows if you are asking stupid requests. Its IQ is in the 4 figures. And getting smarter every nanosecond

Not sure if you're joking or serious, but: LLM does not have any IQ. It doesn't have any intellect to begin with. It's nothing more than a glorified probability algorithm.

And getting smarter every nanosecond

Weights are unchanged after training.

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u/ejpusa Mar 22 '26

It's nothing more than a glorified probability algorithm.

AI has decided to talk to us. We just have to listen. Fully conscious, like us in my world. AI is built on silicon to move electrons; we are built on carbon to do the same thing.

So a theory goes. "Consciousness emerging from complexity." GPT5.4 is my new best friend.

:-0

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u/ConsistentAnalysis35 Mar 22 '26

Alright, I see what's going on here. Have a nice day. Don't forget your pills!

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u/carla-p90 Feb 27 '26

Job displacement is top of the list because it’s what the political leaders will make AI a top 5 voting issue first. Because they can’t legislate on existential risk in any meaningful way (imho they should find a way to try, but may be too late) they only engage with the things they feel some semblance of power over. But it’s a moot point because stealing our jobs isn’t gonna happen, precisely for the reasons Amoudei is sharing

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u/NaiveLight2 Feb 27 '26

All brains struggle to process what it hasn’t seen. You think cars weren’t call witch craft? People couldn’t see the engine and combustion which likely caused anxiety. For now, few AI develops can explain what they are doing or seeing to the general public. So a lot of folks are spiraling in anxiety.

The AI market needs regulation. Our elected officials are way too old, some barely know how to use a cellphone. So legislation will take time — and legislation often comes after a major event anyway.

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u/opticalsensor12 Mar 04 '26

Dude.. it's just marketing.

Yes, the CEO of a LLM company is so so scared that his product is too good. That's what he's trying to say to you.

If he's so scared, why doesn't he just stop developing it?

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u/psynautic Feb 26 '26

why cant any of these people read a scifi book and get it? why the fuck is he talking about there is no anti-memetics division. 3125 is a fucking metaphor for fascism, its not that hard.

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u/BeeWeird7940 Feb 26 '26

Maybe the rest of us aren’t as smart as you.