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Comment by mitthrowaway2

15 hours ago

By that reasoning, why even warn people about anything? Why do road construction crews put up signs saying "ROAD CLOSED AHEAD" when you can just drive on and see for yourself?

Indeed, why warn people about real things that exist in the world? That is EXACTLY the same as inciting fear about something imaginary (not even projected).

  • In your mind, dangers from AI are imaginary and not even projected, therefore, you don't see any reason to warn about them, because you don't think the dangers are real. You don't believe the road is actually closed up ahead, so you don't think it's necessary to post the sign.

    In Scott's mind, dangers from AI are not a known fact, but are somewhere between highly probable and a near-certainty. In his mind, there are well-grounded justifications for believing that AI poses substantial future dangers to the public. Therefore he also believes he should inform people about this, and strives to convince skeptics, so that we might steer clear.

    It's easy to understand why someone who believes what you believe about AI would of course not warn people about AI. It's also easy to understand why someone who believes what Scott believes about AI would want to warn people about AI. Your contention is with his confidence for being worried about AI, not his reason for wanting to warn people.

    • Gosh it's quite embarassing to have to spell it out, but you inserted the part about Scott's motivations. It can't be found in the text.

      Neither can any specific discussion of what the dangers are and how we can steer clear. It all comes preplanted in your head. The only thing that Scott is playing on (as far as we can see) is your ingrained fear, by using an ominous headline, and a vague reference to something "scary" in the conclusion.

      Of course there was no reason to "warn" you, you already believed in the scary future. Scott is just giving you fuel, which you seem to appreciate.

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