Posted on 06/05/2026 1:55:42 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Anthropic is proposing that the world’s top artificial intelligence companies come up with a coordinated way to pause development of advanced AI systems, warning the technology is improving so quickly there’s a risk humans would lose control.
The company behind the Claude chatbot said in a blog post Thursday that as cutting-edge AI gets increasingly faster at carrying out tasks, “it would be good for the world to have the option to slow or temporarily pause” its development.
Anthropic said its internal research institute plans to explore the issue in collaboration with others and “take actions” to help build the systems for a credible slowdown or pause, without being more specific.
Anthropic rival OpenAI argued for a different approach in a report published Wednesday, saying that “democratic governments — not private companies acting alone — must ultimately determine the rules, safeguards, and accountability mechanisms.”
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
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Yet another PR stunt.
When AI builds itself
Anthropic Corp. ^ | June 5, 2026 | By Marina Favaro and Jack Clark, Anthropic
Direct link to white paper: When AI builds itself
Recall the Luddites:
The Luddites were a secret, oath-based organization of 19th-century English textile workers who protested against the introduction of automated machinery that threatened their livelihoods. Active primarily between 1811 and 1816, the movement originated in Nottinghamshire and spread to Yorkshire and Lancashire during the harsh economic climate of the Napoleonic Wars.
The movement was named after a mythical figure called Ned Ludd (also known as King Ludd or General Ludd), an apprentice allegedly said to have smashed a stocking frame in 1779. While Ned Ludd likely never existed, workers used his name to issue threatening letters and maintain a Robin Hood-like mystique, claiming to act under his orders.
Contrary to the modern stereotype of anti-technology sentiment, Luddites were skilled artisans who were not opposed to machinery itself but to its deceitful use by employers to:
Their primary tactic was machine-breaking (sabotage) during organized night raids, destroying specific equipment like wide knitting frames, cropping frames, and steam-powered looms. They also coordinated public demonstrations and petitions for minimum wages and an end to child labor.
The British government responded with severe repression, deploying 14,000 soldiers and passing laws making machine-breaking punishable by death or transportation to Australia. Key incidents included the mass trial at York in 1813 and violent clashes at mills like Burton's Mill. By 1816, the movement was effectively crushed.
Today, the term "Luddite" is commonly used to describe anyone opposed to new technology, though historians emphasize that the original Luddites were fighting for workers' rights and economic justice rather than rejecting industrial progress itself.
Thanks!
Reminds me of Spock asking the computer to “Compute to the last digit the exact value of Pi”; i.e., give it a job it can’t handle. I’ve got one too: “Characterize all the microbial relationships in a cubic inch of fertile soil.” Hell, it might even find out something useful.
Are you calling me a “Luddite” in the most effusive way possible?
AI can’t clean up a voter roll.
To late got Claude cleaning up the garage and making me money.
Now I got him building my own Claude. First one to the robot army wins
bkmk
Hah
Not at all
Merely hypothesizing what Amodei is up to when his company releases commentary like this...
“AI can’t clean up a voter roll.”
True. But AI CAN get the Democrat over the finish line.
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