# We need a "little gear" for AI news panic **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Tags:** ai\ **Created:** [September 19, 2026, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-little-gear-for-ai-news-panic/1033199 "2026-09-19T14:53:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2026, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-little-gear-for-ai-news-panic/1033199/1 "2026-09-19T14:53:37Z")
I get that AI is trending as the big scary technology right now. Sure, there are issues. But can everybody in the news just stop, take a deep breath, and fucking learn something about AI before panic-reporting the latest non-event from an AI platform. At least learn enough about it to ask intelligent questions and not fall for every 20-something self-professed AI “expert” from the marketing department telling us humanity is doomed in a matter of weeks if all AI isn’t immediately killed with fire. And for fuck-sake, stop saying ‘sandbox’ like you know what a sandbox is. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2026, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-little-gear-for-ai-news-panic/1033199/2 "2026-09-19T14:54:56Z")
If you (any you) quit watching the breathless news then it no longer matters to you (any you) what the fools are saying. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2026, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-little-gear-for-ai-news-panic/1033199/3 "2026-09-19T15:03:53Z")
I mean, BBC, NPR, CNN, Youtube feeds. It’s unavoidable. I’m in IT and I build AI agent solutions (not willingly), and even our security guy is sending me Claud generated warnings of OpenAI security vulnerabilities. It’s all become recursively perverse. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2026, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-little-gear-for-ai-news-panic/1033199/4 "2026-09-19T15:22:33Z")
It’s fed also by **Doom trolling** : companies _cough_ OpenAI / Sam Altman _cough_ that want to inflate the value of their tools by “warning” of how powerful they are. A lot of news is lazily repeating press releases. That part isn’t new. But now companies are incentivized to have chicken little write those press releases. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2026, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-little-gear-for-ai-news-panic/1033199/5 "2026-09-19T15:23:40Z")
News is about eyeballs/ears, ratings, advertisement, and money. They are always looking for the next big hot story to talk about, and the elimination of humanity in 10 years sounds like a pretty hot story to me. Whether that story is accurate or not has nothing to do with it. All that matters is whether it will “sell” to a mass naive, audience. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2026, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-little-gear-for-ai-news-panic/1033199/6 "2026-09-19T15:43:33Z")
Google’s Gemini latest admission of a “site hack” dating back to May, case in point. ‘_Oh! Oh! Us too! Look at how dangerous ours is!! We did it before those other guys!_’ ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2026, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-little-gear-for-ai-news-panic/1033199/7 "2026-09-19T16:01:57Z")
Trump says it’s all a hoax. He should know, his uncle started MIT a 100 years ago. 🙄 What a moron. Yeah, quit watching news. I quit the day after the election. Never been happier. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2026, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-little-gear-for-ai-news-panic/1033199/8 "2026-09-19T16:21:06Z")
I disagree. Anyone here feel a little panicked about climate change? Well AI is changing 100 times as fast as the climate. While I certainly think many of the problems of AI could be fixed by intelligent, rational people with decent moral values; these type people are not in control of either the AI industry nor the government. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2026, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-little-gear-for-ai-news-panic/1033199/9 "2026-09-19T17:10:27Z")
This is not just the USAs prob. It’s worldwide. Governments need to get together on this. They won’t. But they should. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2026, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-little-gear-for-ai-news-panic/1033199/10 "2026-09-19T17:29:51Z")
Surely you’re not referring to the top AI researchers and executives (the ones issuing a lot of the dire warnings I’ve seen lately) as “20-something self-professed AI ‘experts’ from the marketing department?” ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2026, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-little-gear-for-ai-news-panic/1033199/11 "2026-09-19T17:38:06Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > And for fuck-sake, stop saying ‘sandbox’ like you know what a sandbox is. I think you need to take this to the sandbox. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2026, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-little-gear-for-ai-news-panic/1033199/12 "2026-09-19T18:06:47Z")
I am not. And don’t call me Shirley. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2026, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-little-gear-for-ai-news-panic/1033199/13 "2026-09-19T19:46:56Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > I mean, BBC, NPR, CNN, Youtube feeds. It’s unavoidable. I avoid all of those things. It’s not unavoidable. You choose to immerse yourself in performative alarm-mongering and then wonder why you’re alarmed. You’re welcome to do whatever you want and I wish you well. But we each can choose our actions or our consequences. Not both. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2026, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-little-gear-for-ai-news-panic/1033199/14 "2026-09-19T19:51:33Z")
I’m not alarmed. I’m recreationally annoyed. It’s a different thing. Coffee and stupid news is how I kick-start my heart in the morning. Sets me up for the rest of the day. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2026, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-little-gear-for-ai-news-panic/1033199/15 "2026-09-19T20:03:17Z")
Sandbox? 🤔 ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2026, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-little-gear-for-ai-news-panic/1033199/16 "2026-09-19T20:11:47Z")
Think of a sandbox as a controlled playground where applications, code, and files can be tested or executed to see how they behave. If the software behaves maliciously or unexpectedly, it doesn’t have the power to affect anything outside of that contained environment. So say AI experts. It’s a good thing they’re not zoo keepers or we’d be up to our asses in monkeys. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2026, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-little-gear-for-ai-news-panic/1033199/17 "2026-09-19T20:41:08Z")
What “little gear”? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2026, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-little-gear-for-ai-news-panic/1033199/18 "2026-09-19T20:48:15Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Think of a sandbox as a controlled playground where applications, code, and files can be tested or executed to see how they behave. If the software behaves maliciously or unexpectedly, it doesn’t have the power to affect anything outside of that contained environment. > > So say AI experts. > > It’s a good thing they’re not zoo keepers or we’d be up to our asses in monkeys. And specifically one AI thing supposedly broke through the sandbox, which they present as “look at how powerful our AI has gotten!” But the scuttlebutt is that the sandbox was not designed well, and they wanted this to happen. The actual fear is not unfounded: an AI that can basically create malware to keep itself running even after you try to shut it down. The malware would basically copy the AI somewhere else, where it keeps copying itself and mutating. Basically a worm that can mutate faster than humans can come up with countermeasures to stop it. But worms (even mutating ones) spread in large part because the payload is quite small, and AI models only get sophisticated when they get rather big. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2026, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-little-gear-for-ai-news-panic/1033199/19 "2026-09-19T21:23:18Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > What “little gear”? It’s what the very stable genius suggested using to prevent ai from taking over. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2026, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-little-gear-for-ai-news-panic/1033199/20 "2026-09-19T21:53:08Z")
No thanks, I’m trying to give them up. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-little-gear-for-ai-news-panic/1033199.md?page=2)