I'm not at all the target audience for this post—I'd label myself the polar opposite of an AI doomer—so it was really striking to see such a different perspective. I mean, right off the bat, the opening line
> Some people are worried that AI will wipe out all value in the universe.
Huh? What does that even mean? Even leaving aside the hyperbolic clause "in the universe," who is saying that AI will "wipe out all value," and what are their arguments?
At least the author acknowledges the assumptions baked into the work:
> Investing in AI companies, by default, gives them more funding and more ambition, and thus accelerates AI. That’s bad, and a good reason not to invest in them. Any AI company that is a good investment and maximizing profits is not something to be encouraged. If you were purely profit maximizing and were dismissive of the risks from AI, that would be different, but these questions assume a different perspective.
It's hard to square this away with the author's other advice to continue saving for retirement, which (in the USA) pretty much means investing in the large-cap stock market, which includes the "Big Tech" companies who are already funding R&D for AI projects.
> Some people are worried that AI will wipe out all value in the universe.
Huh? What does that even mean? Even leaving aside the hyperbolic clause "in the universe," who is saying that AI will "wipe out all value," and what are their arguments?
At least the author acknowledges the assumptions baked into the work:
> Investing in AI companies, by default, gives them more funding and more ambition, and thus accelerates AI. That’s bad, and a good reason not to invest in them. Any AI company that is a good investment and maximizing profits is not something to be encouraged. If you were purely profit maximizing and were dismissive of the risks from AI, that would be different, but these questions assume a different perspective.
It's hard to square this away with the author's other advice to continue saving for retirement, which (in the USA) pretty much means investing in the large-cap stock market, which includes the "Big Tech" companies who are already funding R&D for AI projects.