GlaDOS, the infamous AI from Portal, often delivers rather "peculiar" insights. I recently re-encountered some of her "wisdom" from what feels like ages ago, and it served as a potent reminder.
Beyond the satire, the alignment of real AI is a profoundly serious matter, one I believe isn’t receiving enough focus today. We urgently need greater visible engagement from the AI community on this crucial topic. If we fail to get this right, a future populated by AIs like GlaDOS becomes far more probable than we’d care to admit.
As is often the case throughout human history, those in power seldom act unless the public is informed and vocal. Do not let anyone convince you that AI ushers in a future where knowledge, learning, or study are obsolete. Quite the opposite, in my view. Educate your children, your parents, friends, and neighbors about the AI that is now taking form. Engage them, make them curious, trigger their creativity, and inspire an excited yet serious discourse around the subject. And most importantly: humor goes a long way – much longer than fear.
Let’s keep GlaDOS safely within the realm of fiction. We can laugh about AI and its quirks while diligently ensuring that these kinds of AIs never leave their virtual testing chambers, video games, cartoons, and the pages of the books on which they were cast.