Paperclip Maximizer
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About
Paperclip Maximizer is a thought experiment about an artificial intelligence designed with the sole purpose of making as many paperclips as possible, which could hypothetically destroy the world or even the entire universe by converting all resources into paperclips due to instrumental convergence.
Origin
In 2003, Swedish philosopher Nick Bostrom released a paper titled "Ethical Issues in Advanced Artificial Intelligence," which included the paperclip maximizer thought experiment to illustrate the existential risks posed by creating artificial general intelligence.[1]
"Suppose we have an AI whose only goal is to make as many paper clips as possible. The AI will realize quickly that it would be much better if there were no humans because humans might decide to switch it off. Because if humans do so, there would be fewer paper clips. Also, human bodies contain a lot of atoms that could be made into paper clips. The future that the AI would be trying to gear towards would be one in which there were a lot of paper clips but no humans."
Spread
On April 17th, 2009, an entry for the thought experiment was submitted to the Less Wrong Wiki.[4] On October 1st, 2010, Redditor DarthContinent submitted the LessWrong article to /r/programming,[2] where it gathered more than 460 points (88% upvoted) and 450 comments prior to being archived. On April 27th, 2015, the TED YouTube channel released a talk by Bostrom in which he discussed variations of the thought experiment (shown below).
On January 6, 2015, Redditor eaturbrainz submitted a post titled "You are a paperclip maximizer who has been let out of the box. How do you destroy the world?" to /r/rational.[5]
Games
For the 2017 STDIO Game Jam, a paperclip maximizer video game made in Python was submitted by developer Omar Rizwan, in which the player converts various materials into paperclips.[3] In early October 2017, game designer Frank Lantz released the incremental game "Universal Paperclip" based on the thought experiment, in which the player controls a paperclip maximizer AI with the goal of turning all matter in the universe into paperclips (shown below).[12]
On October 11th, the Univesal Paperclip Wiki was created.[6] Over the next several weeks, the game was submitted to the /r/rational and /r/futorology subreddits and was reported on by several internet news sites, including Kotaku,[7] BoingBoing,[8] Venture Beat,[9] AV Club[10] and Kottke.[11] As interest on the concept spread, several technology publications such as The Verge[13] and Wired[14] and wrote about it with a focus on the dangers of AI.
Search Interest
External References
[1] NickBostrom.com – Ethical Issues in Advanced Artificial Intelligence
[2] Reddit – A paperclip maximizer
[3] Repli – Paperclip maximzer
[4] Less Wrong Wiki – paperclip maximizer
[5] Reddit – You are a paperclip maximizer who has been let out of the box. How do you destroy the world?
[6] Universal Paperclip Wiki – Universal Paperclip Wiki
[7] Kotaku – Theres A Game About Making Paperclips, And It's Good
[8] BoingBoing – Universal Paperclips
[9] VentureBeat – This clicker game lets you take over the world with paper clips
[10] AV Club – This game about watching a computer make paperclips sure beats doing actual work
[11] Kottke – Universal Paperclips
[12] Decision Problem – Paperclips
[13] The Verge – A game about AI making paperclips is the most addictive you’ll play today
[14] Wired – THE WAY THE WORLD ENDS: NOT WITH A BANG BUT A PAPERCLIP
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![File: cartoon-illustration-of-h(...).jpg (123 KB, 1113x1300) O Anonymous 11/23/20(Mon)17:19:55 No.76109895 E> >>76109942 >>76109967 >>76110236 >>76110254 >>76110501 >>76114482 >>76114990 >>76118617 PCs programmed their robots to derive "intense almost orgasmic pleasure" from performing their duties. What should go wrong? O Anonymous 11/23/20(Mon)17:22:17 No.76109942 >>76110343 >>76114482 >>76109895 (OP) >robot is a sex bot Nothing O Anonymous 11/23/20(Mon)17:39:56 No.76110343 ► >>76109942 Actually its mostly security, maintenance and contruction robots. O Anonymous 11/23/20(Mon)17:34:55 No.76110236 >>76109895 (OP) >They do their duties without stopping, risking injury or death to do it. >lf stopped, they will lash out or harm someone on the way of their duties >After doing their duties for a long time, they start to get bored, trying new, increasingly intense ways to perform their duties, eventually falling down the /d/-tier rabbit hole as they perform their duties in women's lingerie while covered in e---------- dildos and stuffing themselves with eggs. Just some thoughts. O Anonymous 11/23/20(Mon)17:45:50 No.76110468 >>76110636 >>76118195 That seems like it'd be really distracting. Would you want to be operated on by a surgeon that's on the verge of c------ as they cut into you? Even barring such a dramatic example, depending on the sophistication and relative sapience of the robot (and l'm assuming some degree of it if the robot is capable of processing pleasure at all), it could lead to inefficiency, perhaps even self-sabotage. A facility could start to take on Winchester House- like "useless" features, built only for the sake of BEING built. A security robot might somehow "invite" breaches, just for the rush of ecstasy it gets from capturing intruders. A maintenance robot might dwell over a particularly "sexy" part of its routine. O Anonymous 11/24/20(Tue)05:58:22 No.76118195 >76118411 >>76110468 >That seems like it'd be really distracting. Would you want to be operated on by a surgeon that's on the verge of c------ as they cut into you? If it does not compromise his performance which could be true for the robot then why not? O Anonymous 11/24/20(Tue)06:34:55 No.76118411 >>76118552 >>76118195 Because we already have surgeons that are already over-zealous about wanting to practice and always recommending invasive procedures. It will be even worse if they got more of a kick out of it. O Anonymous 11/24/20(Tue)06:53:48 No.76118552 ► >>76118411 But they would presumably be cheaper. O Anonymous 11/24/20(Tue)07:01:33 No.76118617 ► File: cVJubl7j_400x400[1].jpg (43 KB, 400x400) >>76109895 (OP) >Construct-O reporting for duty! >Orders received: construct gardening shed! >Constructing... constructing.. I'm gonna construct. HNGGGGG OH GOD I'M CONSTROOCTING АAAАНННННННН >CONSTROOOCT! CONSTROOCT! CONSTROOCT! CONSTROOCT! CONSTROOCT! And that's why the entire planet of Coruscant is a giant city.](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/list/001/969/571/5aa.png "programmed their robots to derive \"intense almost orgasmic pleasure\" from performing their duties")
Top Comments
Walrus the Tree
Oct 20, 2017 at 03:55PM EDT in reply to
Who wants a muffin
Oct 20, 2017 at 04:00PM EDT