Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

* 8 million people to smoking.

The 1990’s saw one of the most effective smoking cessation campaigns in the world here in the US. There have been numerous case studies on it. It is clearly something we are working on and addressing (not just in the US)

* 4 million to obesity.

Obesity has been widely studied and identified as a major issue and is something doctors and beyond have been trying to help people with. You can’t just ban obesity, and clearly their efforts being made to understand it and help people.

* 2.6 million to alcohol

Plenty of studies and discussion and campaigns to deal with alcoholism and related issues, many of which have been successful, such as DUI laws.

* 2.5 million to healthcare

A complex issue that is in the limelight and several countries have attempted to tackle to vary degrees of success.

* 1.2 million to cars

Probably the most valid one on the list and one that I also agree is under addressed. However, there are numerous studies and discussions going on.

So let’s get back to AI and away from “what about…”: why is there so much resistance (like you seem to be putting up) to any study or discussion of the harmful effects of LLM’s, such as AI-induced psychosis?



Im not resisting that at all. I fully support AI safety research. The think mechanistic interoperability is a fascinating and fruitful field.

What I’m resisting are one sided views of AI being either pure evil, or on the verge of AGI. Neither are true and it obstructs thoughtful discussion.

I did get into what aboutism, I didn’t realize it at the time. I did use flawed logic.

To refine my point, I should have just focused on cars and other technology. AI amplifies humanity for both good and bad. It comes with risk and utility. And I never see articles presenting both.


I don’t think many people are quite that myopic in their views.


Many people are. Several of my immediate family members. And several prominent intellectuals including Yudkowsky and Hinton, both fathers of the field.

Yudkowsky wrote a 250 page book to say "we must limit all commercial GPU clusters to a maximum of 8." That is terrifyingly myopic, and look at the reviews on Amazon. 4.6 stars (574). That is what scares me.


Let me rephrase: most people aren’t that myopic and the viewpoint that’s driving AI development definitely skews more towards the “no restrictions or limitations of any kind” end of the spectrum anyway. You’d have a point if AI development was being choked in some way, but it’s quite the opposite:

I don’t think you need to worry that the other extreme exists as well. The obscene flow of money into AI at every stage has thus far gone almost entirely unchallenged.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: