TRAWDADDY: 05/20/24

Monday, May 20, 2024

The fallout that would come from a nuclear war should not be discounted. Only by facing the ugly reality of such an event can we be motivated to make sure it never happens. This is a subject so appalling most of us avoid thinking about a nuclear attack in realistic terms.

Other than seeing such horrific scenes in movies few of us can envision how the world would be immediately transformed following such an event.

It seems that warmongers may not be taking to heart the implications of their actions. Rest assured many of the perpetrators of such an event, and those they love would be tucked away in their bunkers safe from harm with visions of resurfacing in positions of power when things calm down.

If you think the picture I paint is too grim, the sad thing is you may need to give the situation a bit more thought.

Around 15,000 nuclear bombs exist today and almost all of them are many times more powerful than the ones unleashed at the end of World War II. They target large and important areas and once launched the missiles that deliver these bombs move fast.

This means people will have little or no time to prepare for their arrival.

Few of us want to delve into the idea that all the things we perceive as normal and good could vanish in the blink of an eye. The fallout we would be forced to deal with would not be limited to only the nuclear kind falling from the sky. It would include the impact of such an event on society. Simply put, imagine the unimaginable.

Even before we deal with death and destruction other issues emerge. The one thing few will argue is that it would create a degree of chaos far beyond anything most of us have ever experienced.

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The computer scientist regarded as the “godfather of artificial intelligence” says the government will have to establish a universal basic income to address AI’s impact on inequality.

Professor Geoffrey Hinton told BBC Newsnight that a benefits reform giving fixed amounts of cash to every citizen would be needed because he was “apprehensive about AI taking lots of mundane jobs”.

“I was consulted by people in Downing Street, and I advised them that universal basic income was a good idea,” he said.

He said while he felt AI would increase productivity and wealth, the money would go to the rich “and not the people whose jobs get lost and that’s going to be very bad for society”.

Professor Hinton is the pioneer of neural networks, which form the theoretical basis of the current explosion in artificial intelligence.

He worked at Google until last year, but he left the tech giant to speak more freely about the dangers of unregulated AI.

The concept of a universal basic income amounts to the government paying everyone a set salary regardless of their means.

Critics say it would be highly costly and divert funding away from public services while not necessarily helping to alleviate poverty.

A government spokesman said there were “no plans to introduce a universal basic income”.

Professor Hinton reiterated his concern that human extinction-level threats were emerging.

Developments over the last year showed governments were unwilling to rein in military use of AI, he said, while the competition to develop products rapidly meant there was a risk tech companies wouldn’t “put enough effort into safety”.

Professor Hinton said, “My guess is that between five and 20 years from now, there’s a probability of half that we’ll have to confront the problem of AI trying to take over.”

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