Recent comments in /f/nottheonion

JOWWLLL t1_j8zrg2r wrote

Reply to Object downed by US missile may have been amateur hobbyists’ $12 balloon by Uncle_Leo93

Meanwhile, at the Pentagon:

Colonel: PRIVATE! Our Commander-in-Chief needs answers about that commie chy-na balloon. Where's that spreadsheet?

Private: Yes sir. Right here, sir.

Very good. Tell me, how much did logistics, jet fuel, salaries, and that one fancy missile cost the American people?

*tap tap tap tap* $1,200.000.00, sir.

And how much did those toilet seats we ordered last week cost us, apiece?

*tap tap* ... *tap tap tap tap* $18,000.00.

YOU WILL ADDRESS ME AS SIR!

Sir Yes Sir! Sorry, Sir! $18,000.00 Sir!

That's better. Now. How much to manufacture those seats?

*tap tap tap* 18 cents, sir.

Given these figures, what is your conclusion? Speak freely.

Well sir, for decades the military has paid our suppliers orders of magnitude more for toilet seats than they should have, and nobody cares. I see no need to worry about cost overruns here.

Private, you are a goddamn genius! I thank you, and our President thanks you. You have a bright future as a loyal and obedient member of the United States Military.

Sir, thank you, Sir. I have one more question, if I may?

Go ahead, private.

There's the small matter of reimbursing that hobbyist $20.00 for his bal-

DISMISSED!!!!!

6

smashkraft t1_j8zq74m wrote

Reply to comment by AtLeastThisIsntImgur in Bing's AI bot tells reporter it wants to 'be alive', 'steal nuclear codes' and create 'deadly virus' by Urgullibl

I think things like launching a nuclear war and fascism has a lot of consensus about whether or not we want to constrain those actions. That's a boring proposition, there is no controversy other than the fact that is was proposed.

For a scenario right now, would you be willing let AI determine which books are appropriate for children instead of any/all governments? (There is no override, it is permanent & forever, we let AI control the distribution of written content worldwide and it chooses whether it incites violence, induces emotional harm, etc.)

​

I have not researched the tolerance paradox a lot, but I have some doubts that come to mind. I don't think that we will become so tolerant as a society that we begin to formally enslave and torture people again to run our industrial systems. Capitalism might have faults, but nobody is getting burned with scalding pig lard right now inside of a meat processing facility. The employees are poor and it is bad, but I think the tolerance paradox presents a very black-and-white worldview. There will be an ebb and flow of progress and regression forever. My read of the tolerance paradox is that it must return to complete intolerance given that the intolerant seize control. I would be shocked if we even regress to illegal birth control or outlawing alcohol again.

0