Roko's Basilisk

[John Clark]

Back in 2010 when Roko introduced the world to the idea that we now call "Roko's Basilisk" on LessWrong,  Eliezer Yudkowsky was furious with Roko. Making frequent use of capital letters he said:

 "Listen to me very closely, you idiot. YOU DO NOT THINK IN SUFFICIENT DETAIL ABOUT SUPERINTELLIGENCES CONSIDERING WHETHER OR NOT TO BLACKMAIL YOU. THAT IS THE ONLY POSSIBLE THING WHICH GIVES THEM A MOTIVE TO FOLLOW THROUGH ON THE BLACKMAIL. You have to be really clever to come up with a genuinely dangerous thought. I am disheartened that people can be clever enough to do that and not clever enough to do the obvious thing and KEEP THEIR IDIOT MOUTHS SHUT about it, because it is much more important to sound intelligent when talking to your friends. This post was STUPID."

Soon after that Eliezer banned any further discussions about it on LessWrong.  And now somebody has made a pretty slick looking video on the topic: 

 Roko's Basilisk: Dangerous Knowledge & All-Powerful AI

See what's on my new list at  Extropolis

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