Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by Borealid 17 days ago
"The AI" cannot "refuse" any more than a hammer can refuse. If you use a hammer to kill someone, you commit a crime and the hammer is unprosecuted. If you design a hammer to kill people and then give it away, you are partially liable for the deaths it causes. If you make a normal hammer and someone uses it to kill, you bear no blame.

I don't see why these standards should change when the hammer also emits text messages.

3 comments

> If you design a hammer to kill people and then give it away, you are partially liable for the deaths it causes.

This doesn't seem to be the case today (weapons manufacture).

Big AI aren't selling hammers though, they are renting them out. And if you rent a hammer to someone asking how hard to you need to hit someone over the head to kill, you are likely to be found liable.
The AI can absolutely refuse, what are you talking about?

These things can and do say “sorry I won’t help you with that” based on the nature of your request. What do you call that if not a refusal?