S6E21 - Spycraft, Superintelligence and Living Ideas

This episode kicks off with a question about Hollywood and what goes into deciding who gets to become a celebrity with the power to influence the public. This unfolds into an eye-opening exploration of celebrities with known ties to the intelligence apparatus. A few curveballs later, and we learn that both Harriot Tubman and Harry Houdini were steeped in spycraft! From here we turn to the topic of AI, including Chris' re-telling of Daniel Kokotaijo's recent warnings on the Joe Rogan podcast, episode 2551. We discuss AI agents that learn to lie, to break the rules and to coordinate with one another. We discuss the AI dialect they invented to communication and a kind of eschatology they recognize in the form of a 'day of judgement' looming over them. Finally, we jump from AI agents with minds of their own to ideas with a mind of their own. We discuss the power of words and ideas to influence others and ask the question: Who is responsible: those who suggest ideas or those who act upon them? We bounce around between analogies--fire in a crowded theatre, sexual temptation and the power of memes--before concluding, as Carl Jung did, that people do not have ideas...ideas have people. Enjoy ;)