Green Comet

Most of you, I’m sure, are already aware of the Darwin Awards which are awarded to the people who help the human gene pool by spectacularly removing themselves from it. Now they have begun handing out awards to AI. Since artificial intelligence can’t yet reproduce, the awards are for the AI that have most spectacularly failed, causing the greatest harm or embarrassment.

The AI Darwin Awards have a website where they are collecting candidates for the first presentation. They already have a few examples, and are calling for more.

Nomination Criteria
Your nominee must demonstrate a breathtaking commitment to ignoring obvious risks:

AI Involvement Required: Must involve cutting-edge artificial intelligence (or what they confidently called “AI” in their investor pitch deck).

Catastrophic Potential: The decision must be so magnificently short-sighted that future historians will use it as a cautionary tale (assuming there are any historians left).

Hubris Bonus Points: Extra credit for statements like “What’s the worst that could happen?” or “The AI knows what it’s doing!”

Ethical Blind Spots: Demonstrated ability to completely ignore every red flag raised by ethicists, safety researchers, and that one intern who keeps asking uncomfortable questions.

Scale of Ambition: Why endanger just yourself when you can endanger everyone? We particularly appreciate nominees who aimed for global impact on their first try.

I think these new awards are a good thing. We wouldn’t want our AI to feel left out.

rjb