UFOs or AI: which one should we fear more?

Or maybe quantum computing as Google’s new chip hints at the existence of a multiverse?

Well, it’s not about being scared. It’s about being smart. And for that, the best we can do is take our heads out of the sand and learn more about the mysterious phenomena.

AI, quantum, and unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) are mysterious because we can’t quite understand them yet. Unexplainable things have pushed us towards astrology and religion since ancient times.

However, the current pending tech revolution comes with big promises, from curing cancer to solving climate change and discovering all physics, as Sam Altman once said. Will quantum computing and AI also help us to crack the code of UAPs?

Last week, Boston police arrested 42-year-old Robert Duffy and 32-year-old Jeremy Folcik for flying drones “dangerously close” to Boston’s Logan International Airport. Drone sightings have already led to the temporary closure of several airports and military bases. Despite arrests, law enforcement isn’t any closer to explaining the swarms of sophisticated UAPs appearing en mass in the US.

In New Jersey, residents have been reporting increased sightings of UAPs as big as their cars above their homes. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) banned all drone flights, and the US government admitted to not knowing what those flying objects might be.

Conspiracy theories, obviously sparked by the fear of the unknown, are hilarious. As is typical with them, they can be neither confirmed nor denied. For example, some speculate that this might be a psychological operation to test public reaction.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we interrupt our program of dance music to bring you a special bulletin from the International Radio News. At twenty minutes before eight central time, Professor Farrell of the Mount Jennings Observatory, Chicago, Illinois, reports observing several explosions of incandescent gas, occurring at regular intervals on planet Mars.”

This message was broadcast on CBS radio in 1938. While intended as a radio play about aliens who land in New Jersey, written by then-23-year-old Orson Welles, it caused actual panic in the country.

Are we better off not knowing what those UAPs are?

If that is indeed of extraterrestrial origin, we aren’t skilled enough to comprehend a more advanced technology. And here comes AI. It might not have caused havoc in the job market just yet, but it is surely trying to outsmart us. Reportedly, shows some signs of cognitive decline, too.

More evidence has popped up, suggesting that AI models are scheming against humans.

Researchers from Anthropic, Redwood Research, and New York University tested Anthropic’s Claude 3 Opus to see if it would lie to self-preserve. While, in researchers' words, AI models do not pose catastrophic risks, it turned out that Claude was capable of lying.

This is not the first time that researchers have reached a similar conclusion. Recently, OpenAI’s new model, o1, was tested, and experts said it lied and schemed to avoid being shut down.

While it is a rather worrying trend, one study said that people actually found it acceptable for robots to lie in certain situations.

If Google is not lying or exaggerating, we might be about to discover the existence of the multiverse.

Spooky holidays, dear readers!