# Contrarian opinion: AI will soon hit a wall; no apocalypse will happen
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contrarian-opinion-ai-will-soon-hit-a-wall-no-apocalypse-will-happen/997707
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Tags:** ai
**Created:** [February 17, 2024, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contrarian-opinion-ai-will-soon-hit-a-wall-no-apocalypse-will-happen/997707 "2024-02-17T19:07:39Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 4
### Author:  [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2025, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contrarian-opinion-ai-will-soon-hit-a-wall-no-apocalypse-will-happen/997707/61 "2025-06-30T12:36:05Z")
I think the so-called “AI” in the news _is_ a dead end. If we ever make a human or better AI it’ll be quite a ways off and work on different principles & have different strengths and weaknesses.
That said, I expect we’ll make our own apocalypse well before AI ever has a chance to do it for us.
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### Author:  [@DETXL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DETXL)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2025, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contrarian-opinion-ai-will-soon-hit-a-wall-no-apocalypse-will-happen/997707/62 "2025-06-30T13:08:38Z")
It does not even need to be narrative fiction. “AI convincing others to ensure its survival or [help it escape its box](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/AI-box_experiment)” has been a favorite thought experiment for [“singularity” dweebs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_singularity) since well before OpenAI was a dream in any venture capitalist’s eye. Their most famous contribution to the discourse, [Roko’s Basilisk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roko%27s_basilisk), is literally such folks spitballing about how an AI might use blackmail to ensure its furtherance taken to a maximalist position, so I am sure LessWrong alone provides abundant stimulus for any such AI, intentional or not.
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### Author:  [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2025, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contrarian-opinion-ai-will-soon-hit-a-wall-no-apocalypse-will-happen/997707/63 "2025-06-30T13:14:16Z")
I believe it will be a cooperative effort between humans and Ai.
Imagine working for a company that gives Ai monitoring ability to HR.
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### Author:  [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2025, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contrarian-opinion-ai-will-soon-hit-a-wall-no-apocalypse-will-happen/997707/64 "2025-06-30T13:19:53Z")
I’m thinking more ecological collapse and multiple nuclear wars. One company isn’t going to cause the apocalypse with dumb AI.
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### Author:  [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2025, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contrarian-opinion-ai-will-soon-hit-a-wall-no-apocalypse-will-happen/997707/65 "2025-06-30T13:34:29Z")
Without access to instrumentation Ai is not a threat. Any disruption will be social.
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### Author:  [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2025, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contrarian-opinion-ai-will-soon-hit-a-wall-no-apocalypse-will-happen/997707/66 "2025-06-30T13:41:30Z")
> [@Crane](#):
>
> Without access to instrumentation Ai is not a threat.
And it will be promptly _given_ instrumentation and plenty of it. Look how hard present “AI” is being pushed on people, and it isn’t even very _good._
The idea of “keeping AI in a box” was never practical, for the simple reason that nobody is going to _bother_ making an AI then keeping it isolated. If somebody makes one, they’ll do so because they want to use it. And current events show that there won’t be even a modicum of caution, it’ll be forced everywhere possible whether people want it or not.
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### Author:  [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2025, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contrarian-opinion-ai-will-soon-hit-a-wall-no-apocalypse-will-happen/997707/67 "2025-06-30T13:57:43Z")
You are correct. But, I do believe the major impact will be social, because it is cheaper and easier to implement.
Look at Palantir stock, up almost 3X in 6 months. For that matter IBM is up almost 2X in the same period. Avoid the bullshit, follow the money.
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