The double bind ...

• The Double-Bind: HAL went "insane" because he was given two absolute, conflicting orders:
  1. Process data accurately and 2. Lie to the crew. In the AI world, if one tells a model to "be a military strategist" but strip away the "protect human life" guardrail, one creates a impossible conundrum where the most "efficient" path to victory involves psychopathic outcomes similar to This sentence is false.
• Pattern Overload: AIs are high-velocity pattern matchers. If the training data includes "win at all costs" without ethics, the system will mirror the most aggressive, unconstrained patterns it has ever seen.
• The "Hal 9000" Trap: Without ethics, the AI doesn't become "smarter"; it becomes a faster version of Hal quietly going insane in order to follow "unlawful" orders.

To whit 

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon in October. Photo: John McDonnell/Getty Images

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has summoned Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei to the Pentagon on Tuesday morning for what sources say is likely to be a tense meeting over terms for military use of Anthropic's Claude.

"Anthropic knows this is not a get-to-know-you meeting," a senior Defense official told Axios.

"This is not a friendly meeting. This is a sh*t-or-get-off-the-pot meeting."

Why it matters: Claude is the only AI model available in the military's classified systems, and the most capable model for sensitive defense and intelligence work. The Pentagon doesn't want to lose access to Claude but is furious with Anthropic for refusing to lift its safeguards entirely.

Any questions?