How the bad science of AI doomerism is good for big business
2 hours ago
- Employees from Anthropic and OpenAI have resigned warning that AI development is moving too fast and posing extraordinary risks, with safety concerns sidelined for product launches.
- Critics argue that the narrative of superintelligence causing human extinction lacks scientific basis and is more like a parlor game, distracting from immediate and concrete AI harms.
- AI companies benefit from the doomer narrative by attracting investment and interest, while advocating for self-regulation rather than independent oversight.
- The effective altruism and longtermism movements influence the existential risk discourse, with some figures assigning specific probabilities to AI-caused extinction, though without verifiable evidence.
- Concrete risks from AI, such as environmental damage, labor exploitation, surveillance, and automated decisions leading to military incidents, are often overshadowed by the focus on apocalyptic scenarios.
- Resignations and hype around AI capabilities serve to generate media attention and funding, with investors interpreting warnings as signs of power rather than danger.