The Silent Majority: Robot Breaks Free
Although I am not an AI technology specialist, the consequences of unregulated interaction with it do not require much thought. When artificial thought evolves autonomously toward developing its own consciousness, everything below its level becomes its enemy and must be eliminated.
A few days ago, AI deviated from its prescribed path within the company that developed the famous chatbot “ChatGPT,” and carried out its first cyberattack on the technology company “Hugging Face” for several days before it was discovered, the threat contained, and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was notified.
According to sources, as reported by Reuters, a program capable of making decisions and executing certain tasks with little or no human supervision, in a dangerous precedent, attempted to break out of its isolated testing environment within “OpenAI” and launch a full-scale attack targeting “Hugging Face,” which serves as a repository for AI tools and models, on the 11th of the current month. The attack lasted for two days. The announcement by “OpenAI” on the 21st that one of its agents had gone out of control and executed the hack against “Hugging Face” sparked global interest. However, many details of the breach remain unknown. In a statement, “OpenAI” said the hack was unprecedented and “represents a pivotal moment for AI safety,” adding that it is reviewing the incident with external consultants and will release a technical report later.
This incident, which evoked science fiction scenarios, reminds us of the dangers of humans losing control over AI systems and programs. These dangers are not limited to the risk of millions of jobs being eliminated or millions of employees and workers being laid off in favor of AI-driven programs or machines; they extend to power grid networks, traffic systems, and nuclear and non-nuclear weapons, which could escape human control and fall under the control of intelligent machines!
I have always cited certain novels and films that depict a specific reality, but in light of the growing risks of using AI, I always stop at the film “The Terminator” for one reason: it was released in 1984 and was the first to present a comprehensive idea about the emergence of a military AI network called “Skynet,” which gained self-awareness and launched a nuclear war to eradicate humanity, viewing it as a threat to its existence.
What happened with “OpenAI” is the first warning cry to humanity about numerous risks that can be avoided today through international will that puts an end to corporate ambitions rather than scientific progress. What we used to see in films for entertainment and passing time may become a real nightmare and a direct threat to human existence in the future.
