Democracies struggle as crises converge
1h
European commentators warned that artificial intelligence, the climate crisis and the far right were converging into a scenario of human self-destruction, while democracies and diplomacy struggled to avert dystopia.
by Tim Stephens
“Activist groups are using artificial intelligence to target the ABC’s coverage of the Middle East with accusations of bias.”
AI is making society ungovernable.
#auspol
www.smh.com.au/business/com...
AI is making society ungovernable.
#auspol
www.smh.com.au/business/com...
Activist group using AI to flood ABC with thousands of bias complaints
The AI system lets campaigners deliver thousands of messages from their supporters with different language, tone and length but the same meaning.
www.smh.com.au
September 20, 2026 at 9:31 AM
“Activist groups are using artificial intelligence to target the ABC’s coverage of the Middle East with accusations of bias.”
AI is making society ungovernable.
#auspol
www.smh.com.au/business/com...
AI is making society ungovernable.
#auspol
www.smh.com.au/business/com...
Direct link to me. NBC kept the parts on Hinton & existing regulatory solutions, but cut discussion of the US exec branch of govt & tech resisting regulation like 2 year olds resist bed. My full quote: "We have not seen AI go rogue. We've seen people be sloppy with their software and make mistakes."
Iran Government-Led Rally Sends Defiant Message to U.S.; How to Reset the AI Doomsday Clock
YouTube video by NBC News
www.youtube.com
September 20, 2026 at 9:17 AM
Direct link to me. NBC kept the parts on Hinton & existing regulatory solutions, but cut discussion of the US exec branch of govt & tech resisting regulation like 2 year olds resist bed. My full quote: "We have not seen AI go rogue. We've seen people be sloppy with their software and make mistakes."
and he is right too - the smokescreen of existential risk posed by AI agents lets us overlook "The boring risks of human agency that we already face today."
September 20, 2026 at 8:58 AM
and he is right too - the smokescreen of existential risk posed by AI agents lets us overlook "The boring risks of human agency that we already face today."
'The great debate over AI safety that has erupted in recent days threatens to make the choice moot. If the worst scenarios come to bear – and experts have differing views on this – then the technology will impact the continent regardless.'
September 20, 2026 at 7:52 AM
'The great debate over AI safety that has erupted in recent days threatens to make the choice moot. If the worst scenarios come to bear – and experts have differing views on this – then the technology will impact the continent regardless.'
'Europe’s dilemma over AI was rendered in stark terms this week. The head of the continent’s central bank, Christine Lagarde, said Europeans have two options: shun the technology and lose out on growth; or embrace it and become dependent on tools developed by the US and China.'
Why Europe has been absent from the great AI safety debate
Though Europe has measures that address how consumers might encounter AI, technology will impact them if the worst scenarios bear
www.theguardian.com
September 20, 2026 at 7:52 AM
'Europe’s dilemma over AI was rendered in stark terms this week. The head of the continent’s central bank, Christine Lagarde, said Europeans have two options: shun the technology and lose out on growth; or embrace it and become dependent on tools developed by the US and China.'
This is a great short (4 item) thread on #cybersecurity #stuxnet #ukraine and #geopolitics but the above @lemonde.fr article also details a false AI generated report that almost caused US to board a CN ship. OTOH I guess it's possible that wasn't just an error, but insecure AI - more #cyberwarfare.
Not saying that such attacks would have been unthinkable before, but the Russian war in Ukraine has normalized attacks of this kind & we are seeing more & more cyberattacks with real world physical implications since 2022 as a result. Confluence of increased interconnectedness & breaking of taboos.
September 20, 2026 at 6:10 AM
This is a great short (4 item) thread on #cybersecurity #stuxnet #ukraine and #geopolitics but the above @lemonde.fr article also details a false AI generated report that almost caused US to board a CN ship. OTOH I guess it's possible that wasn't just an error, but insecure AI - more #cyberwarfare.
Reposted by Carl T. Bergstrom
I will not link to it, but @theatlantic.com has published a transparent piece of AI cult propaganda, authored by a self-described “AI safety and policy” researcher who is funded by Coefficient Giving. Shameful.
September 20, 2026 at 2:20 AM
I will not link to it, but @theatlantic.com has published a transparent piece of AI cult propaganda, authored by a self-described “AI safety and policy” researcher who is funded by Coefficient Giving. Shameful.
Reposted by Fabián Muniesa
been thinkin about how robots are gonna kill us
September 20, 2026 at 1:39 AM
been thinkin about how robots are gonna kill us
Reposted by Samuel L. Perry
Cool cool cool. Problem solved.
“AI Force” will “monitor bad behavior”
More of “the mirage of AI deregulation”:
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
“AI Force” will “monitor bad behavior”
More of “the mirage of AI deregulation”:
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
Trump announces ‘AI Force’ as alarm grows over technology’s advance
US president has resisted calls for regulation but said he would appoint a ‘tsar’ to monitor for ‘bad’ behaviour
giftarticle.ft.com
September 20, 2026 at 1:03 AM
Cool cool cool. Problem solved.
“AI Force” will “monitor bad behavior”
More of “the mirage of AI deregulation”:
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
“AI Force” will “monitor bad behavior”
More of “the mirage of AI deregulation”:
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
by John Mecklin
Don't panic about AI. Demand that Congress create an Artificial Intelligence Commission to regulate it, as other dangerous technologies have been dealt with in the past. Along the way, educate yourself about AI via authoritative sources like the @thebulletin.org. thebulletin.org/the-ai-power...
The AI Power Trip - Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
A year-long project examining how the people and organizations developing AI are gaining control of the world’s most critical systems.
thebulletin.org
September 19, 2026 at 11:28 PM
Don't panic about AI. Demand that Congress create an Artificial Intelligence Commission to regulate it, as other dangerous technologies have been dealt with in the past. Along the way, educate yourself about AI via authoritative sources like the @thebulletin.org. thebulletin.org/the-ai-power...
Reposted by Manuel Puppis
Two ideas from this article resonate
1. The “rogue AI agent” hacking incidents are more failures of test design and oversight than examples of runaway AI.
2. Focus on existential risk helps distract from concrete harms happening now from government misuse to companies using AI against workers.
1. The “rogue AI agent” hacking incidents are more failures of test design and oversight than examples of runaway AI.
2. Focus on existential risk helps distract from concrete harms happening now from government misuse to companies using AI against workers.
September 19, 2026 at 11:15 PM
Two ideas from this article resonate
1. The “rogue AI agent” hacking incidents are more failures of test design and oversight than examples of runaway AI.
2. Focus on existential risk helps distract from concrete harms happening now from government misuse to companies using AI against workers.
1. The “rogue AI agent” hacking incidents are more failures of test design and oversight than examples of runaway AI.
2. Focus on existential risk helps distract from concrete harms happening now from government misuse to companies using AI against workers.
“Arguably, the agents did exactly as they were told: they pursued advanced exploitation using complex attack paths to obtain solutions to their tasks, only not in the way that OpenAI engineers had intended.”
Misleading Metaphors, Real Risks
What To Fear from AI Agents and How to Reclaim Our Human Agency
aiguide.substack.com
September 19, 2026 at 11:15 PM
“Arguably, the agents did exactly as they were told: they pursued advanced exploitation using complex attack paths to obtain solutions to their tasks, only not in the way that OpenAI engineers had intended.”
Reposted by Alessandro Nai
Just watching an old documentary tonight, something about data centers, ai and robots.
September 19, 2026 at 10:45 PM
Just watching an old documentary tonight, something about data centers, ai and robots.
either it is in principle possible to set up appropriate safeguards (in which case the "AI alignment" story is just as much about who gets to set them up and enforce them as it is about the content of the safeguards) or it is not (in which case we should be talking about transnational moratoria)
“our ai broke out and hacked some organisations” = "we failed to set up appropriate safeguards, failed to continuously monitor our experiments, and ignored a basic principle of reinforcement learning: if hacking gets rewarded, the system learns to hack"
September 19, 2026 at 8:14 PM
either it is in principle possible to set up appropriate safeguards (in which case the "AI alignment" story is just as much about who gets to set them up and enforce them as it is about the content of the safeguards) or it is not (in which case we should be talking about transnational moratoria)
by Marc Lynch
“does AI make it easier for autocrats to conduct surveillance and repression, or does repression itself corrupt the very data AI needs to work?” This is great and very much in line with my current research interests
michaelalbertus.substack.com/p/ai-was-sup...
michaelalbertus.substack.com/p/ai-was-sup...
AI Was Supposed to Perfect Authoritarian Control. Repression Is Getting in the Way.
A conversation with political scientist Eddie Yang on how fear and self-censorship blind AI systems built to enforce them, and why the same data problem could be quietly contaminating AI in the West
michaelalbertus.substack.com
September 19, 2026 at 7:45 PM
“does AI make it easier for autocrats to conduct surveillance and repression, or does repression itself corrupt the very data AI needs to work?” This is great and very much in line with my current research interests
michaelalbertus.substack.com/p/ai-was-sup...
michaelalbertus.substack.com/p/ai-was-sup...
Reposted by Shannon Vallor
There is a latent human anxiety about being kicked off the top of the food chain that seems to be stronger than the anxiety that we might destroy ourselves directly. So now we have abject terror about AI for the wrong reasons alongside complacency about the damage caused by humans.
September 19, 2026 at 7:06 PM
There is a latent human anxiety about being kicked off the top of the food chain that seems to be stronger than the anxiety that we might destroy ourselves directly. So now we have abject terror about AI for the wrong reasons alongside complacency about the damage caused by humans.
Reposted by Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò
Watching the AI doomer panic the last two weeks and I'm struck by all the strident certainty on display about a subject with little transparency and not very much certainty. I wrote about treating AI as an unexceptional crisis and what that involves. (gift link) www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
September 19, 2026 at 6:40 PM
Watching the AI doomer panic the last two weeks and I'm struck by all the strident certainty on display about a subject with little transparency and not very much certainty. I wrote about treating AI as an unexceptional crisis and what that involves. (gift link) www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
Reposted by Robert B. Reich
What’s really behind the AI panic?
Do Big Tech execs actually want to be regulated — or just rig the rules in their favor?
And what about the money AI companies are pumping into the midterms?
@rbreich.bsky.social is back to discuss it all on a new Coffee Klatch.
Do Big Tech execs actually want to be regulated — or just rig the rules in their favor?
And what about the money AI companies are pumping into the midterms?
@rbreich.bsky.social is back to discuss it all on a new Coffee Klatch.
What’s Behind the AI Panic? | The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich
What’s behind the AI doomerism?What’s up with Trump’s obsession with the Kennedy Center?And what does the Macklemore sto
www.youtube.com
September 19, 2026 at 6:16 PM
What’s really behind the AI panic?
Do Big Tech execs actually want to be regulated — or just rig the rules in their favor?
And what about the money AI companies are pumping into the midterms?
@rbreich.bsky.social is back to discuss it all on a new Coffee Klatch.
Do Big Tech execs actually want to be regulated — or just rig the rules in their favor?
And what about the money AI companies are pumping into the midterms?
@rbreich.bsky.social is back to discuss it all on a new Coffee Klatch.
This is way more in the realm of civilization’s downfall than sentience.
“As revealed in recently unsealed court documents, top Microsoft figures, including CEO Satya Nadella, admitted that their AI models are basically stealing content from media companies while providing virtually nothing in return, creating a “doom loop” that will swallow the web.”
Microsoft Director Admitted in Internal Document That AI Is Creating a "Doom Loop" That Destroys the News Media by Stealing Its Content Without Providing Anything in Return, in Turn Making the AI Usel...
A Microsoft executive admitted that AI companies like itself were plundering websites without giving them in return.
futurism.com
September 19, 2026 at 6:12 PM
This is way more in the realm of civilization’s downfall than sentience.
This is all dangerously irresponsible
President Trump says he is forming an “AI Force,” modeled after the Space Force, and will soon appoint an AI “czar.” Trump said his administration will not “hinder or stifle” AI growth, saying the technology could eventually account for as much as 25% of U.S. GDP.
September 19, 2026 at 5:41 PM
This is all dangerously irresponsible