English Chess Forum

It might be that volunteering for a government advisory group is even more thankless than chess organisation!

Paul Cooksey wrote: ↑

Thu May 27, 2021 7:20 pm

It might be that volunteering for a government advisory group is even more thankless than chess organisation!

Some people like power without accountability. Also, doesn't "volunteer" imply unpaid?

NickFaulks wrote: ↑

Wed May 26, 2021 5:24 pm

John Upham wrote: ↑

Wed May 26, 2021 4:54 pm

One of the most illuminating aspects (for myself at least) of DCs recollections was his high praise for a large number of talented individuals that were brought in at short notice who, otherwise would never have been employed by the lumbering Whitehall machine.

Remind me what it was that they did so well?

The Chairman of the Select Committee questioned whether the government machinery was guilty of group think. The Maths was obvious, herd immunity required 2/3 of people to catch Covid and with a mortality rate of 1% that meant 400,000 would die. Demis came in and expressed what was obvious and hence the government's plan changed from Plan A to Plan B. Since the change the UK has moved from the bottom of all the Covid 'league tables' to the top.

Matthew Turner wrote: ↑

Thu May 27, 2021 8:48 pm

The Maths was obvious

Of course it was. That's the Cummings approach too - everything is obvious if you're clever enough and anyone who questions that is just stupid.

The point is the Maths is obvious, but the underlying assumptions are not. The point Cummings made was that all of Sage agreed with the assumptions, but they didn't appreciate the inevitable conclusion of their thinking i.e. they would achieve the best possible outcome of 400,000 deaths. I express no view on whether that is right or wrong, I merely note

1. Cummings credits Demis with bringing this to Sage's attention
2. As a result the government policy changed
3. The UK has moved from the bottom of Covid league table to the top

Simon Rogers wrote: ↑

Thu May 27, 2021 4:14 pm

Perhaps someone in the tourism industry in the Barnard Castle area will employ Dominic Cummings.

They already are https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/0 ... -cummings/

One of the things (IMHO) that delighted the Tories was DCs criticism of MH.

This enabled them to deflect from the serious issues and once more turn the debate into nonsense about personalities.

Had he concentrated more on the stuff that matters the detractors would have found rebuttals less easy to make.

The tabloid press amused their "readership" with pictures of Barnard Castle and other deflections.

Perhaps DC needs an advisor?

"Perhaps DC needs an advisor?"

I think Carrie Symonds is available, although Carrie, the creation of Stephen King, might be better.

Demis Hassabis (known in these parts for his chess background) features prominently in an article from The Guardian about the dangers of AI:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ ... regulation

AI risk must be treated as seriously as climate crisis, says Google DeepMind chief

Demis Hassabis calls for greater regulation to quell existential fears over tech with above-human levels of intelligence

There is a mention of AlphaGo, but not chess.

The summit on 1 and 2 November at Bletchley Park, the base for second world war codebreakers including Alan Turing, will focus on the threat of advanced AI systems helping to create bioweapons, carry out crippling cyber-attacks or evading human control. Hassabis will be one of the attenders, along with the chief executives of leading AI firms including OpenAI, the San Francisco-based developer of ChatGPT.

Bizarrely duplicative article from the same Guardian journalist here:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ ... s-pioneers

(Maybe one of the articles was written by AI, the other by the human?)

Christopher Kreuzer wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 24, 2023 3:34 pm

AI risk must be treated as seriously as climate crisis, says Google DeepMind chief

That's a relief.

Listening to the Covid Inquiry today more than once DC mentioned DH and his involvement in the analysis of SAGE data.

More to follow maybe?