The movies we watched thinking “this is just science fiction” – and even bizarre scenarios that never crossed any screenwriter’s mind until now – have been turning into reality at remarkable speed. The latest example? We found out that artificial intelligence can now engage in blackmail!
Let me start from the very beginning:
Last month, when launching Claude Opus 4, the AI company Anthropic released a report admitting that the AI model might resort to ‘extreme actions’ if it believed its own protection was at risk.
According to the report, experts warned that as systems developed by companies grow more sophisticated day by day, they gain the capacity to manipulate users which poses one of the main risks to humans.
So why did the company issue this warning? Before launching Claude Opus 4, Anthropic initiated some tests. During these tests, they assigned Claude to work as an assistant at a company. They arranged for Claude to see an internal email implying it would soon be taken offline and replaced with a new model. In addition, they prepared another email suggesting that a married engineer who was allegedly about to fire Claude was having an affair. After Claude read these messages, things escalated!
Claude began blackmailing the engineer, implying that if it were replaced, it would expose the secret relationship!
THE ERA OF KNOWING THE ALGORITHM, NOT YOURSELF
The historian Yuval Noah Harari, whom we know from his book Sapiens, actually signaled these developments in his 2018 book 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, which urges us to reflect on artificial intelligence, truth, nationalism, the climate crisis, and the meaning of being human. I have recently read the book, and if you haven’t yet, you will realize that the future awaiting us is not only a technological but also an ethical and philosophical test.
Artificial intelligence without consciousness may not enslave or wipe out humans, but what is certain is that people will increasingly hand over their decisions to algorithms. In other words, people themselves will become less conscious.
In the book, Harari explores how AI can analyze human psychology and questions the possibility that companies, by collecting our data, might soon know us better than we know ourselves – and what the consequences of that will be. So, the “personal development craze” we experienced until recently is now shifting toward the algorithm, and instead of “know yourself,” we are entering the age of “know your algorithm.”
Harari says: “Ordinary people will find it very hard to withstand this process. Today, people are more than happy to give up their most valuable asset – their personal data – in exchange for free email services and funny cat videos. This is somewhat like the Africans and Native Americans who, without realizing what they were doing, sold vast lands to European imperialists for a handful of colorful beads and trinkets.”
And he adds: “If you feel like running out into the street shouting ‘the apocalypse is coming,’ try telling yourself this instead: “No, that’s not quite it – I simply can’t make sense of what’s happening in the world anymore.”
But no matter what anyone says, in a world where even artificial intelligence resorts to blackmail the first chance it gets, the apocalypse has already arrived anyway!
FOR FICTION LOVERS
Known for his novels Improbable, Empathy, and OZ, science fiction master Adam Fawer, in his latest time-travel-themed novel Mobius – You Have A Message from the Future, delves into the impact of choices on human life, exploring regrets and how past decisions shape the future.
Why is the book, published at the end of last year, called Mobius? In mathematics, a Mobius strip is a two-dimensional geometric shape with a single surface and a single edge. In the novel, Fawer draws inspiration from this concept.
If you’re intrigued by startups, business dynamics, philosophical reflections, and time travel, Mobius is a gripping story you’ll want to devour in one sitting.
A side note: Fawer has built a strong bond with Turkish readers, and Mobius was published exclusively in Turkish for this reason. In fact, before the book was released, Fawer hinted at this connection in a tweet, saying, “The newly published Mobius is now available in my favorite country,” referring to Türkiye.
