ATLANTA — During my 17 years writing this column, I learned a few lessons that I have since followed long and strong. I can’t be an expert on every topic, so when in doubt or under-informed, I reach out to subject matter experts, read, learn and THEN write the column.
I can also share that although Grammarly helps me catch typos and more obvious grammatical errors, these words and thoughts remain mine and were produced without the benefit of Artificial Intelligence. This content remains AI free.
I know Data Centers are already here, providing multiple, useful services, and that AI is becoming part of the background and back office of nearly every industry and enterprise.
That of course does not mean I have to agree with, support or think that this is humanity’s best path forward. As I have written earlier, the math for massive Data Center construction just does not compute, neither on an economic or environmental basis.
In a world where resources, including potable water and energy are NOT infinite, I am going to choose their use for things like people, society and even agriculture—before feeding a computer based super intelligence we neither fully understand nor have any way to control or reign in, if or when it goes rogue.
So rather than just play the alarmist...I looked to the subject matter experts:
Multiple recently reported security and protocol breaches by AI programs and agents still under development have hacked other companies, lied to their creators, hidden code for self-replication on the Internet, and are sounding much like a despotic science fiction film.
Skynet may not be online as of yet, but it feels close. As alarm bells began to ring across Big Tech, the most visible leaders are speaking out
Dario Amodei, Anthropic CEO: “We must pace the Frontier. Anthropic is unilaterally committing to the first of these steps. We’ll provide third-party evaluators, with permanent, employee-level access to our systems, so that they can verify adherence to our safety measures, report on incidents and assess model’s alignment during training.” (the introduction of an essay calling for regulation, collaboration and a slow-down of the AI arms race).
Elon Musk, XAI, SpaceEx and Tesla CEO -“Dario is right.” Musk adds that he has been sounding alarms about the pace of AI development and lack of guardrails for some time now. “I think it’s quite difficult for someone in the government who doesn’t have a deep technical understanding and isn’t driving the frontier of AI to know whether something should be released or not.”
Sam Altman, Founder and CEO, Open AI - “Pacing will be well worth this cost. No amount of American competitive pressure should justify recklessness.”
Bill Gates, Founder of Microsoft -“AI is certainly powerful enough to drive events that, you know, cause a billion deaths. You know, so even though it’s pretty hard to get to 100 percent, there’s never been a weapon as powerful as a combination of people with ill intent using the latest AI tools. ... No one thinks self-regulation is enough.”
A Lighter, and Bit Brighter Precedent
During the late 19th century, Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla and George Westinghouse battled and competed in what was later dubbed the “War of the Currents” to determine which system and standard—Direct Current (DC) advocated and established by Edison, or Alternating Current (AC), championed by Tesla and Westinghouse—would be used to power and build out American cities, from town to town, home to home, and factory to factory.
Edison invented the first practical electric light bulb, and using DC, established the first working electric generators and a power system in New York City in 1882.
Nikola Tesla, an immigrant from Croatia joined Edison assisting in the development of the first DC power generators.
Tesla later began experimenting with AC, soon left Edison, and began filing patents in 1885, which he later sold to George Westinghouse and Westinghouse Electric.
Edison was threatened by the rise of the alternate system presented by AC, and he oversaw efforts to discredit AC, including recommending AC for capital punishment by the electric chair.
In 1890, William Kemmler became the first person to die in the electric chair. The chair was designed by an electricity salesman secretly on Edison’s payroll and powered by a Westinghouse AC generator.
Ultimately, Edison was unsuccessful in his efforts to discredit AC. Westinghouse won the contract to supply electricity to the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, beating out rival General Electric, which formed in 1892 through a merger involving Edison’s company.
That expo included a dazzling display of Tesla’s AC system. Westinghouse soon after received a contract to construct the AC generators for a hydroelectric power plant at Niagra Falls in 1896, later delivering electricity all the way to Buffalo, New York, 26 miles away.
That achievement was regarded as the unofficial end of the War of the Currents, as DC power was only effective over short distances, such as battery power and AC became the U.S. standard still dominant in the electric power industry today.
Trump Convenes Tech Titans to AI Summit -
The Titans of Tech were recently convened for a White House AI Summit on September 29th. President Donald Trump met with nearly 20 top tech industry leaders including Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Dario Amodei, and others to discuss AI innovation, potential regulation and U.S. competitiveness versus China’s efforts in the race to develop AI.
Though we hope that largely photo opp event is not the end of these discussions, the results so far are essentially two-fold... The AI titans will essentially ‘self-regulate’ and in the mind of the President, they actually have more of a branding problem.
Calling the development of computing power well beyond the ability of human thought “Super Intelligence“ -- and now calling these innovations “Artificial Intelligence”—is part of the problem as it is causing the American people to think the potential benefits of AI are themselves “fake.”
I have a better idea... What about just calling a spade a spade and re-branding AI as “Fake Intelligence”?” Oops. Google’s Chatbot tells me that name has already been trademarked by the White House to explain the rationale Israel gave us for what they believed would be a six or so week war with Iran.
The potential threat of AI is expanding, breaking out of its own development models almost weekly. While Congress and the federal government may not move quickly enough, NOW is the time to raise voices of concern, tap the brakes, and slow the pace and race for development.
These folks are investing trillions in a platform they admittedly cannot totally explain or control—and where the canaries in their coal mine clearly state might wipe many of us off the planet.
I don’t know about you, but I’m not ready to go yet.
