“On a sunny morning this past October, the Israeli-born roboticist sat behind a table in his lab and explained himself. “This topic was taboo,” he said, a grin exposing a slight gap between his front teeth. ‘We were almost forbidden from talking about it — ‘Don’t talk about the c-word; you won’t get tenure’ — so in the beginning I had to disguise it, like it was something else.” No, not that c-word. NYT (Gift Article): These Engineers Want to Build Conscious Robots. Others Say It’s a Bad Idea. When it comes to AI, machine learning, and the accelerating pace of related tech advances, we’re not going to have time to decide whether or not something is a bad idea. Either way, it’s coming.

+ “Cybercriminals have started using OpenAI’s artificially intelligent chatbot ChatGPT to quickly build hacking tools, cybersecurity researchers warned on Friday. Scammers are also testing ChatGPT’s ability to build other chatbots designed to impersonate young females to ensnare targets.” And this is just ChatGTP’s early version. I’ve talked to folks who have tried the more advanced versions and their minds were blown. Similarly, this is a warm-up. Armed With ChatGPT, Cybercriminals Build Malware And Plot Fake Girl Bots.

+ ChatGPT creator OpenAI in talks for tender offer valuing company at $29 billion.