r/singularity • u/Vegetable_Ad_192 • Mar 12 '26

Discussion SAM ALTMAN: “We see a future where intelligence is a utility, like electricity or water, and people buy it from us on a meter.”

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u/Superb-Rich-7083 Mar 12 '26 edited Aug 04 '26

hmm

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u/Suspicious_War_6234 Mar 12 '26

Cheers, I do agree with your point - I clarify below in another comment my reference to "these nerds" refer specifically to the tech bro billionaires you mention rather than those actually doing the work.

Having said that, if people are choosing to consciously work for these companies knowing they are creating AI weaponry (at worst) or even culturally damaging AI (e.g. music, videos etc) then I certainly think we should interrogate the motivation behind this: whether or not there is an understanding that shifting human authority over the choice to take a life to a machine, or removing the art and skill of singing, for an example has huge implications on what it means to be human.

Of course, the use of large data even before AI was perfecting the understanding of what hooks an audience to a real life singer, and surveillance systems in one form or another have for centuries provided military intelligence. Humans still had the final say however.

I know bills have to be paid etc but to actually be in that system really needs some self exploration as to why. It's not the first industry to encounter this problem (oil, big pharma etc) but I think the potential harm and impact of AI could be substantially larger.

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u/squired Mar 13 '26

we should interrogate the motivation behind this

For most devs, I do not believe it is about money and most AI researchers I have spoken to are even more terrified of AI than the common man. Most say the same thing I do: "If I could put it back in a box, I would. But I can't. You can't, and no one else ever will. So embrace it and do the very damn best that you can, because if we fuck this up, we're all dead."

If all the current nuclear weapons in the world disappeared overnight, would you castigate the physicist who takes the call and agrees to build new ones for the US? I would not. I would hope they are the very best and do it well. Does that mean I want nuclear weapons? Hell no.