The NSA Joins OpenAI: The Evolution, Militarization, and Unsettling Future Ahead

Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer the stuff of science fiction. It’s here, and it's reshaping our world faster than we ever imagined. From customer service chatbots to autonomous vehicles, AI is becoming deeply integrated into our daily lives. But while the technology promises incredible advancements, it also raises unsettling questions about our future. Are we paving the way for unprecedented innovation, or are we blindly racing towards a dystopian nightmare?

The Rise of AI

AI's journey began decades ago with simple algorithms designed to solve basic problems. Today, it's evolved into a sophisticated network of machine learning, deep learning, and neural networks capable of mimicking human thought processes. This rapid advancement is largely due to the exponential growth in computational power and the vast amounts of data generated in our digital age.

For better or worse, it’s undeniable that the current state of AI is a testament to human ingenuity. We have AI systems that can diagnose diseases with higher accuracy than doctors, create art, compose music, and even write poetry. Companies like Google, Amazon, and Facebook use AI to analyze user behaviour and tailor experiences to individual preferences—an approach we're not particularly fond of if we're being honest. In fact, AI isn't just a tool anymore; it’s becoming a pervasive presence in every industry.

How Fast Is AI Advancing?

Moore's Law, which states that the number of transistors on a microchip doubles about every two years, has been a predictable theory behind technological advancement. However, the computational power required for training state-of-the-art AI models has been increasing at an exponential rate far surpassing Moore's Law. Research by OpenAI has shown that the amount of computing used in the largest AI training runs has been doubling approximately every 3.4 months, much faster than Moore's Law. The pace at which AI is advancing is nothing short of astonishing, and it’s only getting faster.