r/technology • u/ArgentineBeauty • 21d ago

Artificial Intelligence Bernie Sanders proposes 20 year prison sentence for AI devs who plow ahead with Artificial Superintelligence plans - penalty on par with illegally developing rogue nuclear weapons

https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/sanders-proposes-20-year-prison-sentence-for-ai-devs-who-plow-ahead-with-artificial-superintelligence-plans-penalty-on-par-with-illegally-developing-rogue-nuclear-weapons
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u/srout_fed 21d ago edited 17d ago

Devs? Why not the billionaire owners and CEOs who are pushing ahead? Start with Doltman.

What will the devlopers do? Quit, when asked to work on AI? They will simply be replaced....

Edit: Apparently its entities. So guess they are also covered. Good.

Edit 2:

Many seem to be misinterpreting my comment.

I am not advocating for the xevs to be exempted. All I wanted to point out was that the decision makers and those in power should be the first ones to face the consequences.

Everyone else below them should be next in line.

Headline here seem to pass the buck onto the devs alone. That's what I was addressing.

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u/BravinatorLX2 21d ago

yeah that is what they should do.

"this is illegal, I'll report you to the authorities"

like pay them 3 months salary as a reward for every report of that sort.

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u/srout_fed 21d ago edited 21d ago

But that's the thing... it's not illegal, yet.

Unless it becomes illegal, it's a stupid idea to pass the burden onto the employees, in place of the employers.

...and even if it becomes illegal, if you leave it to the devs to face the consequence, then they will simply become the scapegoats.

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u/dBlock845 21d ago

Some of the shit a few of these companies have been doing is definitely illegal under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

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u/collabskus 21d ago

The actual wording of the CFAA is apparently so broad and ridiculous that you could argue a lot of the things we do everyday are federal crimes.

Personally I think we should repeal and not replace the CFAA. Not modify, full on repeal it. Laws should not be as expansive as the CFAA that the courts have to step in to protect us from LinkedIn.

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u/[deleted] 21d ago

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u/Wonder_bread317 21d ago

why not make more swamps ? Swamps for everyone!!!! 5k for your own swamp!

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u/Mikeavelli 21d ago

Wetlands disappearance is a serious environmental issue

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u/[deleted] 20d ago

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u/collabskus 20d ago

I don't even remember why we hated crocs. It is fine. They are comfortable. They are practical. They are good enough. 

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u/uzlonewolf 21d ago

Three Felonies a Day.

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u/Actual__Wizard 21d ago

Yeah there's a law regarding identities that they may be violating as well, because their agents create fake accounts.

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u/EveryNameIWantIsGone 21d ago

Obviously it’s not illegal yet. The article is about a proposed law.

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u/nybble41 21d ago

Unless they're proposing a constitutional amendment, it still wouldn't be illegal. AI research is speech.

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u/Montgomery000 21d ago

You can curtail speech if it is dangerous enough. For example, you can't make a detailed Youtube tutorial on how to produce a nuclear weapon, even though it's speech.

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u/Dracomortua 21d ago

You were downvoted (???).

Sorry Reddit, some days i love you but today would you kindly fuck right off. This is really interesting, ethics wise. Upvote this, despite your life-problems.

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u/divDevGuy 21d ago

Today...on How It's Made:

  • Enriching weapons grade uranium...
  • Building a thermonuclear warhead...
  • And assembling the warhead delivery vehicle.

Uranium. It powers cities, propels submarines, and occasionally keeps international inspectors up at 3:00 AM. But turning raw earth into weapons-grade fuel takes precision, patience, and just the right touch.

​You could say the whole process is pretty rad though if things go wrong, the results are positively critical.

​It all starts deep underground, where miners extract natural uranium ore...

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u/nybble41 21d ago

No, not even "dangerous" information is outside the scope of the freedom of speech. YouTube would probably pull the video as a violation of their ToS; they aren't obligated to host it and it doesn't suit their public image. That has nothing to do with the legality of sharing it, though. There is quite a bit of information available on any number of potentially dangerous subjects, up to and including weapons systems, and all of it falls well within the domain of protected speech, right up to the point where someone actually puts it into practice. (At which point the 2nd Amendment comes into play.)

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u/Bencetown 21d ago

Is development of nuclear weapons "speech" too?

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u/nybble41 21d ago

Certainly the research would be. Actually building one goes beyond speech but there's no inherent reason for it to be illegal provided there are proper safeguards against accidents and no intent to use it against anyone. (Yes, they do have other uses besides warfare. Project Orion would be one long-standing example—leveraging the explosions for spacecraft propulsion. Or large mining projects, e.g. asteroid mining.)

Others having the ability to harm you if they chose to is not the same as being threatened. Feeling insecure is not a sufficient justification on its own for use of force.

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u/Pygmy_Nuthatch 21d ago

Nor will it become illegal. This is vibes-only governance from the world's loudest member of the Silent Generation.

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u/barnopss 21d ago

Similar to arresting drug users vs sellers.

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u/RareAnxiety2 21d ago

3 months salary is a pittance given how hard it is to get a tech job these days. Need at least a year or two to cover finding new work

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u/_176_ 21d ago

"Instead of a $20m exit in the next 3 days, why not take $200k to get fired and blacklisted from the industry?"

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u/Tee_zee 20d ago

Anyone working at OpenAI or Antrhopic would have 10,000 job offers the minute they announce they are resigning

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u/bunfunton 21d ago

Year or two? What area of tech is waiting that long?

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u/RareAnxiety2 21d ago

Have you not seen the blood bath in the last 2 years? Layoffs have lessened, but there are still many looking for that long. My linkedin had a googler ask for a gofundme because he ran out of money at the 2 year mark.

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u/Worried-Location-118 20d ago

Do you think it’s possible that the people who are being laid off, do not show promise in their field? Ai agents need orchestrators, I would image out of 100 tech employees, only maybe 5 or so have the drive to be able to orchestrate/direct. If your 9-5 job was just converting files, then it stands to reason, why would a company want to pay 95 people to convert files all day, when a gpu can do it…

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u/bunfunton 21d ago

Hmm sounds like we should end the h1b program then

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u/Luna__Moonkitty 21d ago

Pay them the bonus the executive was expected to receive.

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u/Worried-Location-118 20d ago

“This is illegal” …..Google Gemini turning your camera and microphone on, on your phone every time you go to the bathroom…illegal is only for the poor. The upper class do not deal in illegal and legal, they deal in future equity…

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u/Hacym 21d ago

Doesn’t seem very friendly to the worker. Isn’t that Bernie’s thing?