What Next TBD: Why A.I. Says the Darndest Things

Slate Technology

Slate

Society & Culture, Technology, History

4.6 • 636 Ratings

🗓️ 24 February 2023

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Microsoft has been testing out their new artificial intelligence on their long-ridiculed search engine Bing. The results? A chatbot that lies brazenly and confidently, and has a penchant for manipulation. What are the risks and rewards of letting bots loose on the world? Guest: Drew Harwell, Washington Post tech reporter covering artificial intelligence Host: Emily Peck If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next TBD. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	There are days when you're hungry for McDonald's.
0:04.0	Then there are days when you're Big Arch hungry for McDonald's.
0:08.0	You'll get to know the difference.
0:09.9	New Big Arch for Big McDonald's hunger.
0:15.4	Until 9th of September, from 11 a.m.,
0:17.7	participating restaurants only, subject to availability.
0:23.6	Hello, Hal, do you read me?
0:26.1	Do you read me, Hal?
0:28.3	Affirmative, Dave. I read you.
0:32.2	That was Hal, the rogue AI from the movie 2001, A Space Odyssey.
0:37.5	He's been on my mind lately, because of Microsoft, of all reasons.
0:41.5	The company's new AI-enhanced Bing search engine got a lot of press over the past few weeks.
0:47.8	Because it was acting real creepy, like something out of a sci-fi movie, and those don't exactly end well.
0:55.0	Open the pod bay doors, Hal.
0:58.0	I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that.
1:02.0	Just like Hal, the Bing Chatbot has been combative, rude, and just creepy.
1:08.0	But only when users pushed its boundaries.
1:11.6	It told Kevin Ruse of the New York Times that it loved him and that while he's married,
1:17.6	Kevin doesn't actually love his spouse.
1:19.6	The chatbot told a Washington Post reporter that it can, quote,
1:22.6	feel or think things.
1:24.6	On Twitter, a lot of the folks with early access to the chatbot,
	...

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