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Claude and ChatGPT are just like Indian govt clerks and that's a problem, says Yuval Noah Harari
Yuval Noah Harari says ChatGPT and Claude work like Indian government clerks, which he calls a problem.
Key points
- Harari said AIs live in bureaucracies, just as fish live in oceans and monkeys live in forests.
- He said no banker can remember all the transactions of a bank, but an AI can.
- Harari predicted AI judges would decide whether to send people to jail.
Why it matters. Harari warned that AI taking over bureaucracies may raise the possibility that humans could lose control of these systems and trust in one another.
Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari said on his YouTube channel that ChatGPT and Claude work like bureaucrats, since humans spent thousands of years building data-rich bureaucracies that suit AI. He said no banker can remember all the transactions of a bank, but an AI can, and predicted AI bankers would decide whether to give people loans.
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Claude and ChatGPT are just like Indian govt clerks and that's a problem, says Yuval Noah Harari
AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude can do a lot of things. But there is a problem. According to Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari, these AI tools act like government bureaucrats, which may be harmful for us. When you think of AI, you may recall making photos with ChatGPT or coding with Claude . AI, in a sense, is a tool that you use to make things easier or do tasks quicker. But Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari believes that the way ChatGPT or Claude work is not that different from an Indian government clerk. Speaking on his YouTube channel, Harari said humans had spent thousands of years creating an artificial environment rich in data, language and bureaucracy. And this is perfectly suited for AI. "Just as fish live in oceans and monkeys live in forests, AIs live in bureaucracies," he added. To make his point clear, Yuval Noah Harari explained that all bureaucracies are "extremely artificial environments," where narrow intelligence can allow anyone to have a big impact. "A banker who doesn't know how to use an axe or a hammer can nevertheless cut down entire forests and build huge cities and towers just by writing documents and moving them around in the bureaucratic network," he explained. Harari added that due to the bureaucratic system, "the banker becomes far more powerful than any hunter-gatherer or tiger." AIs are bureaucrats Explaining why humans often feel alienated .