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Nathan Hamiel

@nhamiel@infosec.exchange

mastodon 4.8.0-alpha.3+glitch

Senior Director of Research at Kudelski Security, leading the fundamental and applied research team. International public speaker and Black Hat Review Board Member (AI, ML, and Data Science track lead) I focus on emerging technologies and future threats. Throughout my 20+ year career, I’ve focused on issues of software security, product security, and emerging technologies. I’ve discovered vulnerabilities in major products, identified new attack vectors, and built security tools.

I spend time thinking about the impact of technology on humanity as well as the dangers from the overabundance of tech overoptimism. I write occasional thoughts publicly on Perilous Tech. Avid reader and writer. Lifetime creative, player of multiple instruments, and writer of songs. Passionate animal rescuer and enjoy the outdoors. Believer in unstructured time and mind wandering.

384 Followers

139 Following

28 Posts

Joined November 07, 2022

Site:

https://perilous.tech

@nhamiel@infosec.exchange

· 3w ago

Doom narratives may capture attention, but they aren’t grounded in reality. The AI human extinction narrative just won’t die and contaminates the discourse, obscuring real risks. In this article, I take a different approach: I look at why this narrative captures people and break down specific claims from Jacob Coxon to highlight their ridiculousness. Once again, the real risk to humanity from AI isn’t from superintelligence but our own superincompetence. https://perilous.tech/human-extinction-and-the-ai-psychosis-factory/

Human Extinction and the AI Psychosis Factory - Perilous Tech

Human Extinction and the AI Psychosis Factory - Perilous Tech

By now, you’ve no doubt heard of Jacob Coxon. He’s the guy who resigned from his job at Anthropic in a viral tweet and now seems to be haunting the internet

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@nhamiel@infosec.exchange

· 2mo ago

Replying to

@SuperMoosie@mastodon.au In my writeup, I called out this possibility. If this was initially a publicity stunt, I think it's all OpenAI. I doubt HuggingFace would go for it, but after the fact, HuggingFace found the incident played into their narrative exactly, so they are milking it for everything they can.

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@nhamiel@infosec.exchange

· 6mo ago

My cat says no conference calls today!

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@nhamiel@infosec.exchange

· 5mo ago

Oh, great! Happy Friday, I guess.

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@nhamiel@infosec.exchange

· 5mo ago

Here's my reasoned take on Mythos. In this post, I analyze and break down why I don't think we'll experience a Vulnpocalypse or the end of cybersecurity. I also explore some of the economic aspects people aren't considering and offer a perspective on how you can protect yourself. Surprise, we already know how to do this. We just need to ensure we can handle compressed timelines, something which many organizations aren't good at doing.

https://kudelskisecurity.com/modern-ciso-blog/a-reasoned-take-on-mythos-for-security-leaders

kudelskisecurity.com

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@nhamiel@infosec.exchange

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@xabean@infosec.exchange Hahaha.. The attention to detail with the ring totally got me.

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@nhamiel@infosec.exchange

· 5mo ago

Okay, who made these icons? 😆 When I called out that the icons shouldn't be used, I was asked why. Upon realizing I'd have to explain, I said, "Forget it. They look great."

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@nhamiel@infosec.exchange

· 5mo ago

This article examines the democratization of AI psychosis and the capture of smart people by AI hype. A fascinating yet terrifying trend. We need to recognize when our perceptions of reality are warped, and it’s not as easy as it sounds. https://perilous.tech/democratizing-ai-psychosis-why-smart-people-are-captured-by-ai-hype/

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@nhamiel@infosec.exchange

· 5mo ago

What's happening with all of these price hikes and capability reductions in AI products? Influencers and "visionaries" have been telling us to plan for the price of intelligence to be zero! Apparently, subsidizing tokens while hemorrhaging money isn't a great business strategy.

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@nhamiel@infosec.exchange

· 6mo ago

People are losing their jobs to AI, not because of its capabilities, but because of the mere idea of AI. Companies that AI-wash layoffs see short-term gains, but these may translate into long-term losses. Let the great AI washing begin. https://perilous.tech/the-great-ai-washing-and-the-mere-idea-of-ai/

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@nhamiel@infosec.exchange

· 6mo ago

Time is closing in. The Black Hat USA CFP closes this Friday. For the AI track, we are looking for offensive, defensive, and applied topics. Let's see what you got! Let me know if you have any questions. https://blackhat.com/call-for-papers.html

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@nhamiel@infosec.exchange

· 7mo ago

Seneca said that the excellence of mind cannot be borrowed or bought. However, that’s exactly what’s being pitched with generative AI. Our modern environment is stripping the very defenses we need to stay robust. In the end, we don’t get wisdom or AGI from turning books into statistics. What we get is manipulation and unintended consequences.

https://perilous.tech/transforming-books-into-statistics-wont-bring-wisdom-or-agi/

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@nhamiel@infosec.exchange

· 2mo ago

Replying to

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@nhamiel@infosec.exchange

· 5mo ago

I'm old enough to remember when the Long Island Ice Tea Corp. changed its name to Long Blockchain Corp., to make its stock price go up. Glad to see investors aren't falling for the same old tricks 🤣

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@nhamiel@infosec.exchange

· 6mo ago

Since I discuss risks and hype so much, there seems to be some confusion around my perspectives on AI. I’ve tried to document some of my thoughts here. I’m not a skeptic. I’m a critic. https://perilous.tech/my-perspective-on-ai-advancement/

My Perspective On AI Advancement - Perilous Tech

My Perspective On AI Advancement - Perilous Tech

Since this site focuses on risks and trade-offs rather than shiny, utopian use cases, there is some confusion about my thoughts on AI. Be it the AI of the

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@nhamiel@infosec.exchange

· 6mo ago

Outrageous claims are made every day regarding AI and abundance. Claims so absurd that they have to be true, right? Well, other than the math not making sense, there are lessons we can learn about abundance from Napster. Yes, that Napster. Because when things become free, they are worth nothing, and that’s not good for business or us.

https://perilous.tech/what-napster-can-teach-us-about-ai-abundance-and-the-future/

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@nhamiel@infosec.exchange

· 6mo ago

Recently, there have been plenty of slot machine analogies applied to AI, but Jacques Ellul made this association back in the 1950s. He observed how humans participate less and less in technological creation and are reduced to mere catalysts.

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@nhamiel@infosec.exchange

· 6mo ago

I may still write about this zero-introspection situation, but this is an excellent article. One omission is that many people attribute to skill what should be attributed to chance. "You’re a 15 second sliding context window." I think, therefore, wait... what was I doing again?😆

https://www.theverge.com/tldr/897566/marc-andreessen-is-a-philosophical-zombie

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@nhamiel@infosec.exchange

· 7mo ago

Does someone need to take Zuck's phone away from him? No nanna, that's not a real Nigerian prince!😆

https://gizmodo.com/mark-zuckerberg-decides-meta-needs-more-slop-buys-the-social-network-for-ai-agents-2000731931

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@nhamiel@infosec.exchange

· 7mo ago

The next few years will require vigilance and the ability to envision trade-offs even when no evidence of trade-offs is apparent. These are essential skills in a world that prioritizes dehumanization. This starts with not confusing innovation with progress.

https://perilous.tech/confusing-innovation-with-progress/

Confusing Innovation With Progress - Perilous Tech

Confusing Innovation With Progress - Perilous Tech

One mistake we continue to make, time and time again, is confusing innovation with progress. It’s true that in many cases, innovation is progress. We see the

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@nhamiel@infosec.exchange

· 7mo ago

We need to get much better at envisioning tradeoffs. A symbiosis with AI would mean that we would never know if a thought or memory we have is truly our own. It’s the end of private thoughts and the beginning of a whole new world of manipulation and unintended consequences.

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@nhamiel@infosec.exchange

· 3mo ago

Reorganizing some books this weekend and not sure how I ended up with two copies of Simulacra and Simulation.

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@nhamiel@infosec.exchange

· 2mo ago

I swear Teams is being developed by sadists trying to implement extra-clickmaxxing.

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@nhamiel@infosec.exchange

· 2mo ago

OpenAI’s write-up of the incident reads more like a marketing document promoting a feature than an incident summary, while the quote from HuggingFace sounds more like someone accepting an award than someone who just got hacked. It’s a bit surreal.

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@nhamiel@infosec.exchange

· 2mo ago

As our culture shifts away from literacy, we don't return to our oral roots; just inherit the negative features. We became something new: an entertainment culture. One that rewards reaction over reflection, performance over wisdom, and retrieval over knowledge. My new article explores how AI may accelerate the collapse of literacy and what we can do to reclaim it, giving us the best of both worlds. https://perilous.tech/from-literate-to-entertained-the-shift-to-a-post-literate-culture/

From Literate to Entertained: The Shift to a Post-Literate Culture - Perilous Tech

From Literate to Entertained: The Shift to a Post-Literate Culture - Perilous Tech

What happens when we shift from a literate culture to something resembling an oral culture? The answer to this question is before us. A post-literate culture

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@nhamiel@infosec.exchange

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@tomgag@infosec.exchange You know it 😆

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@nhamiel@infosec.exchange

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@tezoatlipoca@mas.to Hahaha.

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