Snoop Dogg distilled the current fascination with advancements in AI technology, and anxiety about its future direction, in a way perhaps only he can at a recent global conference.
The rapper was speaking to Variety editor Shirley Halperin on the role of Artificial Intelligence in the WGA writer’s strike when he drew knowing laughter from the audience over his concerns.
Snoop Dogg, whose given name is Calvin Broadus, started by sharing a befuddling interaction he had with an AI.
“I got a motherf—ing AI right now that they made for me,” he said. The AI “could talk to me — I’m like, man, this thing can hold a real conversation? Like for real for real?”
“It’s blowing my mind, because I watch movies on this as a kid … and I’m like what is going on?” he added, referring to the recent proliferation of generative AI technology.
Snoop then referenced Geoffrey Hinton, a University of Toronto professor who has been dubbed by various media publications, including this very own, as the Godfather of AI.
“Then I heard the dude … that created AI talking about, ‘This is not safe, the AI’s got their own minds’,” Snoop said. “I’m like, are we in a f—ing movie right now, or what the f— man?”
Hinton quit his job at Google, where he oversaw AI development for more than a decade, making “a remarkable shift from leading AI proponent to AI klaxon,” the Post’s Adrian Humphreys wrote.
Speaking to the New York Times, Hinton, 75, said AI poses “profound risks to society and humanity,” although not necessarily by gaining sentience.
“It is hard to see how you can prevent the bad actors from using it for bad things,” Hinton said.
The entrepreneur and award-winning artist, meanwhile, wondered loud if he should be invested in it.
“So do I need to invest in AI so I can have one with me? Or like, do y’all know? S—, what the f—?”
“I’m lost. I don’t know.”
Snoop, who shared the stage with record label CEO Larry Jackson, also expressed support for Writer’s Guild of America members negotiating residuals for streamed content and compared it to what he considered a lack of adequate compensation for artists on music streaming services:
“Can somebody explain to me how you can get a billion streams and not get a million dollars? That sh– don’t make sense to me,” he said of royalties on platforms like Spotify and Apple.
Snoop was speaking at the 26th Milken Institute Global Conference, which “convened the best minds in the world to tackle its most urgent challenges and realize its most exciting opportunities,” according to its website. This year’s speakers were “dealmakers and celebrities,” according to Bloomberg, including Chelsea football club owner Todd Boehly, Word Bank president David Malpas’s and California governor Gavin Newsom.
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