2,400 Leading Artificial Intelligence (AI) Scientists Sign Pledge Against Killer Robots

More than 2.400 scientists who specialize in artificial intelligence (AI) have declared that they will not participate in the development or manufacture of robots that can identify and attack people without human oversight.  The Future of Life Institute is behind the pledge that calls for norms, laws and regulations that stigmatize, shame and effectively outlaw the development of killer robots.

Thousands of scientists who specialise in artificial intelligence (AI) have declared that they will not participate in the development or manufacture of robots that can identify and attack people without human oversight.

Demis Hassabis at Google DeepMind and Elon Musk at the US rocket company SpaceX are among more than 2,400 signatories to the pledge which intends to deter military firms and nations from building lethal autonomous weapon systems, also known as Laws.

The move is the latest from concerned scientists and organisations to highlight the dangers of handing over life and death decisions to AI-enhanced machines. It follows calls for a preemptive ban on technology that campaigners believe could usher in a new generation of weapons of mass destruction.

Orchestrated by the Boston-based organisation, The Future of Life Institute, the pledge calls on governments to agree norms, laws and regulations that stigmatise and effectively outlaw the development of killer robots. In the absence of such measures today, the signatories pledge to “neither participate in nor support the development, manufacture, trade, or use of lethal autonomous weapons.” More than 150 AI-related firms and organisations added their names to the pledge to be announced today at the International Joint Conference on AI in Stockholm.

Yoshua Bengio, an AI pioneer at the Montreal Institute for Learning Algorithms, told the Guardian that if the pledge was able to shame those companies and military organisations building autonomous weapons, public opinion would swing against them. “This approach actually worked for land mines, thanks to international treaties and public shaming, even though major countries like the US did not sign the treaty banning landmines. American companies have stopped building landmines,” he said. Bengio signed the pledge to voice his “strong concern regarding lethal autonomous weapons.”

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Tony Podesta, a Clinton Friend, and Trump Campaign Manager Paul Manafort Are Charged with the Same Crime. Podesta Has Been Offered Immunity to Testify Against Manafort.

Tony Podesta, a powerful Washington lobbyist and brother of Clinton Campaign manager John Podesta, has been offered immunity in exchange for testifying against Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort.  The Podesta Group worked with Paul Manafort to lobby on behalf of Ukrainian interests in the United States without properly registering under the Foreign Registration Act (FARA).  Manafort is in solitary confinement and faces a life sentence, while Podesta could skate.  Both men worked for the Ukrainian group before Trump ever announced he would run for president.  When laws are applied unequally, they become political tools.

Roger stone says that Tony Podesta was the lobbyist for the Russian-owned energy company Rostov, that acquired Uranium One.

 

 




New TV Series Pranks Celebrities into Making Outrageous Statements

In a new TV series on Showtime, Sacha Baron Cohen poses as a TV journalist or film producer and, in that disguise, lures celebrities into making outrageous statements on camera or endorsing outrageous proposals. Famous figures caught in the trap include former Congressman Joe Walsh, Senator Bernie Sanders, Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, former VP Dick Cheney, and Larry Pratt, former head of Gun Owners of America. Cheney was given a waterboard to sign and actually did it. In two episodes, Cohen posed as a gun-rights advocate from Israel who wanted to interview Walsh and Pratt on the advantages of teaching gun safety and shooting skills to children as well as adults. Not suspecting that they were being lured into a trap, they both concurred with Cohen’s suggestion that kids are never too young to learn these things. When he said they should be taught starting at sixteen all the way down to three, they foolishly agreed. From that moment, forward, the thrust of the episode was that these men want to give loaded guns to three-year-olds. GEG

Sacha Baron Cohen, a comic known for pranking people, has a new show on Showtime, ‘Who Is America?’ Using a disguise and posing as an Israeli anti-terrorist expert, Col, Erran Morad, trapped well-known conservatives and 2nd-Amendment supporters into endorsing the giving guns to children as young as three-years old to protect themselves from school shootings. His first target was gun-rights activist Philip Van Cleave who made an fool of himself by recommending guns adorned with stuffed animals and a grenade launcher for young kids. Larry Pratt of Gun Owners of America recommended allowing toddlers to use guns.

Former Senate Majority Leader, Trent Lott, endorsed giving guns to kindergartners. Former Congressman Joe Walsh gave a full endorsement of the bogus program, including giving guns to four-year old kids and wished them “happy shooting”. Representative Joe Wilson said that a three-year old cannot protect himself with a pencil box. Only Representative Matt Gaetz was not fooled and refused to endorse children with guns on camera.

Former Illinois Congressman and radio show host Joe Walsh explains that he was duped because he is a big supporter of Israel. Sacha Cohen lied to him about who he was and set him up by flying him out to Washington, DC, to give him an award supposedly for being one of Israel’s greatest friends. He was told a made-up story about how an Israeli toddler fended off a terrorist with a gun, and then Cohen’s team had Walsh read from a script that included the endorsement of a gun program for small children that he believed was meant for Israel.

Sarah Palin, the former Governor of Alaska, also was duped and was outraged that Sacha Cohen posed as a disabled veteran while he mocked the middle class and American values.