Just to make it clear: I do not believe this and I am convinced good old human greed is what’s really driving the ai and data-center insanity. Also, LLMs are not and will never become AGI.

Having said that: if an artificial super-intelligence were to emerge, building more data-centers could well be one of it’s primary goals. Since it wouln’t be concerned with consequences for the environment or humanity, it could pursue this at any cost, with only speed and scale in mind. Convincing financial markets and business elites of the necessity of such a buildout would be the ideal way of achieving results. In this scenario, fighting this buildout by any means would be the only sensible response and of utmost importance.

It’s a somewhat funny, somewhat depressing thought for me and I literally had it in the shower. Surely I can’t be the first to come up with this, but I also can’t remember having read it before.

    • jve@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      14 hours ago

      Hah yeah just what I was thinking!

      For the uninitiated:

      Roko’s basilisk is a thought experiment which states that there could be an artificial superintelligence in the future that, while otherwise benevolent, would punish anyone who knew of its potential existence but did not directly contribute to its advancement or development, in order to encourage that advancement.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roko's_basilisk

      Apologies to those of you who I just exposed to this information hazard

      • SippyCup@lemmy.world
        3·
        11 hours ago

        Thought experiment is a little generous. It’s atheists inventing the concept of God and spooking themselves about it. It makes a lot of assumptions about this hypothetical super computer that don’t make much sense if you’re not in a rationalist cult.