Neuro
Original: Neuro on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1:
Unseen speaker (off to the right, near a large machine): It's a neuromorphic computer. Not based on digital architecture, but designed to directly mimic the structure of the human brain.
A man with glasses and a woman with curly hair stand looking at a hulking machine to the right.
Woman: Does that even work?
Panel 2:
The two figures are now silhouettes standing inside or before the enormous dark machine.
Unseen speaker: We can make it have strong opinions about things that aren't true, anxiety about literally nothing, and as of last Tuesday it can continually delay its dreams in favor of the illusion of short-term stability.
Woman (silhouette): wowwww.
Votey:
A close-up of a smiling man's face.
Man: It is perfectly aligned, because it is too overwhelmed with self-doubt to end the world.
Unseen speaker (off to the right, near a large machine): It's a neuromorphic computer. Not based on digital architecture, but designed to directly mimic the structure of the human brain.
A man with glasses and a woman with curly hair stand looking at a hulking machine to the right.
Woman: Does that even work?
Panel 2:
The two figures are now silhouettes standing inside or before the enormous dark machine.
Unseen speaker: We can make it have strong opinions about things that aren't true, anxiety about literally nothing, and as of last Tuesday it can continually delay its dreams in favor of the illusion of short-term stability.
Woman (silhouette): wowwww.
Votey:
A close-up of a smiling man's face.
Man: It is perfectly aligned, because it is too overwhelmed with self-doubt to end the world.
Alt text
A two-panel SMBC comic. Panel 1: A man with glasses and a curly-haired woman stand looking at a large mechanical structure. An off-panel voice says, "It's a neuromorphic computer. Not based on digital architecture, but designed to directly mimic the structure of the human brain." The woman asks, "Does that even work?" Panel 2: The two people are now tiny silhouettes dwarfed by the huge dark machine. The off-panel voice continues, "We can make it have strong opinions about things that aren't true, anxiety about literally nothing, and as of last Tuesday it can continually delay its dreams in favor of the illusion of short-term stability." The woman replies, "wowwww." The joke: the AI is impressive because it has perfectly replicated neurotic, self-sabotaging human psychology. Votey (bonus panel): A close-up of a smiling man's face saying, "It is perfectly aligned, because it is too overwhelmed with self-doubt to end the world." The punchline twists AI-safety "alignment" into the machine being too anxious and self-doubting to be dangerous.
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.