Yet another Hacker News

'Pull the plug': protesters resort to direct action against AI firms

7 points YeGoblynQueenne 1 hour ago 22 comments

maxrev17 1 hour ago | parent

Flip me. Typical guardian type drivel. If AI is going to take over I’m yet to see any glimmer - like not even one single glimmer from any SOTA, local, local ablated, or otherwise dodgily trained models. At all. They’re a probability engine but the human brain can’t compute so we jump to woo woo shit. Brilliant.

poisonborz 1 hour ago | parent

I wouldn't think informed people are afraid of an "evil AI", it's about then complying to prompts in ways the prompter wouldn't expect - because of weak target systens, or the agent was not sandboxed enough, or sandboxing was done carelessly. All current hacking cases are like this, imagine the same with weapon systems.

baal80spam 1 hour ago | parent

https://archive.is/M92Yd

> Some Pull The Plug activists have diverted their energy from Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion. One member of Emma’s cell glued herself to roads to protest against the climate crisis.

Ugh, why am I not surprised they are the same crazies (most likely funded by the same shady NGOs).

keiferski 49 minutes ago | parent

A lot of young people are pretty unhappy with the state of the world and the future they’ve been given. I don’t really blame them for targeting various different things that represent that future.

jaapz 28 minutes ago | parent

Yeah I don't think their actions will do anything to change the course of history, but I sure do empathize with them.

We're here breaking record after record for temperatures all around the globe, we're seeing the effects of our industry and resource usage wreaking havoc everywhere. Record droughts. Record melt. Record rainfall. Record storms. And now the most powerful country in the world has a guy in charge who doesn't even care the world is going to shit. And at the same time global fossil fuel emissions are still rising.

It shouldn't come as a surprise some people will channel their feelings to actions trying to change something.

AI datacenters are just the next energy-guzzling target for these people.

ta20240528 25 minutes ago | parent

The problem is that a truly low-carbon lifestyle is indistinguishable from abject poverty.

vrganj 25 minutes ago | parent

Then the problem might be that we've been living above our means for too long?

frumplestlatz 34 minutes ago | parent

It’s fantastic way to engender popular support for AI. People hate those groups’ protestors — and for good reason.

pelagicAustral 17 minutes ago | parent

Yeah, exactly. I mean, it's always a net-negative with these types...

vrganj 27 minutes ago | parent

I find it commendable that they are at least doing... something, however ineffective.

The state of the world is not great, and the things they are acting against are some of the most directly responsible.

I don't think their approach is particularly impactful, but it's better than just quietly watching the world burn...

pr337h4m 27 minutes ago | parent

> In April, another protester hurled a petrol bomb at the house of the company’s chief executive, Sam Altman.

"protester"

vrganj 26 minutes ago | parent

Is it only protest if it is meek and ineffective? Polite and easily ignored?

frumplestlatz 20 minutes ago | parent

We’re talking about a petrol bomb hurled at someone’s home.

vrganj 19 minutes ago | parent

Yup. We are talking about it, precisely. It seems like the protest worked in getting attention and mindshare.

If they had just shown up with a sign, would we be talking about it? I suspect not.

frumplestlatz 15 minutes ago | parent

We’re talking about far-left (in this case) radicalization that needs to be stamped out, and which directly feeds the reactionary right.

I don’t give a shit about their cause. They lost me and anyone else that’s moderately sane when they firebombed someone’s home.

You should research the violent political environment of the Weimar Republic and how it directly paved the road for the NSDAP’s ascension to power.

The solution to violent radicalization is to shut it down, not to normalize political violence that undermines law and democracy.

watwut 7 minutes ago | parent

Far left radicalization is necessary to counteract right wing radicalization that directly caused it. The right wing radicalized first and right wing millionaires put a lot of money into supporting that radicalization.

Left wing is just starting to react.

GJim 23 minutes ago | parent

Somebody who protests violently is still a protester.

You and I will disprove of their illegal methods, but that does not change who they are.

frumplestlatz 22 minutes ago | parent

More accurate would be “rioter”, “terrorist”, or “insurrectionist”, depending on the specifics.

vrganj 21 minutes ago | parent

All of those are political labels. One person's terrorist is another's freedom fighter.

frumplestlatz 18 minutes ago | parent

No, terrorism is defined by their methods and targets.

I wish I could say I was shocked by the dangerous radicalization you’re exhibiting, but it’s increasingly the norm.

GJim 6 minutes ago | parent

If anyone is fighting for my freedom, I'd rather object to them targeting civilians old boy.

watwut 8 minutes ago | parent

Insurrectionist is getting ahead of the time, Altman is not technofeudal lord yet.