Leah Feiger: Okay, that’s a good idea. Thanks, Tori. Will, what do you have for us?
He will be a knight: Wow, I don’t know if I can really compete with RFK, but as a good CIA agent, I guess I’m going to promote something from the weirder corners of AI, AI, and philosophy. There’s something called Roko’s basilisk. The basilisk is a mythological creature, a snake, that if you look into its eyes, it can kill you. And there was a thought experiment that someone posted on an AI forum saying that the superintelligence of the future would be incentivized to create a simulation where maybe we all existed inside of it, and it would be incentivized to torture anyone who worked against or even thought of the idea of working against its creation. So at one point, in one of these…
Leah Feiger: Incredible.
He will be a knight: … forums, they banned people from talking about Roko’s thought experiment, Roko’s Basilisk. The idea was that if you thought about it, it could be dangerous, which is particularly absurd.
Leah Feiger: How funny. In what forums is this phenomenon being spread or not?
He will be a knight: This was on LessWrong, which is a very famous forum dedicated to AI risks and alignment and…
Leah Feiger: How often do you personally think about Roko’s Basilisk?
He will be a knight: Well, I actually found out about it recently and I try not to think about it just in case. It’s like Pascal’s Wager, right? It’s like playing the odds that superintelligence will become a reality, so you have to try to make it a reality. Yeah, it’s crazy.
Leah Feiger: Ah, that’s a good one. Okay. Ah, actually, this week is a little tough, but I have to go with Tori. CIA agents, here we come.
Victoria Elliott: Finally. Did the Ravens sweep me off my feet? I need to know.
Leah Feiger: The Ravens made you rise to the challenge. I liked that and that was part of it. I saw how hard you tried to do it and yes, you got an A for effort and an A for execution. Good job.
Victoria Elliott: Thank you.
Leah Feiger: And part of it is that I can’t give the win to something I’m not allowed to think about anymore. Tori and Will, thank you so much for joining us. You were excellent guests.
Victoria Elliott: Thanks, Leah.
He will be a knight: Thanks for inviting me.
Leah Feiger: Thank you for listening to WIRED Policy LaboratoryIf you like what you heard today, be sure to follow the show and rate it on your podcast app of choice. We also have a newsletter, which Makena Kelly writes each week. The link to the newsletter and the WIRED story we mentioned today are in the show notes. If you’d like to reach out to us with questions, comments, or suggestions about the show, please email us at politicslab@WIRED.com. It’s politicslab@WIRED.com. We’re very excited to hear from you. WIRED Policy Laboratory Jake Harper produces this episode. Pran Bandi is our studio engineer. Amar Lal mixed this episode. Stephanie Kariuki is our executive producer. Chris Bannon is the global head of audio at Condé Nast and I’m your host, Leah Feiger. We’ll be back in your feeds with a new episode next week.
