Dwarkesh Patel at The Lunar Society:
Marc Andreessen published a new essay about why AI will save the world. I had Marc on my podcast a few months ago (YouTube, Audio), and he was, as he is usually, very thoughtful and interesting. But in the case of AI, he fails to engage with the worries about AI misalignment. Instead, he substitutes aphorisms for arguments. He calls safety worriers cultists, questions their motives, and conflates their concerns with those of the woke “trust and safety” people.
I agree with his essay on a lot:
- People grossly overstate the risks AI poses via misinformation and inequality.
- Regulation is often counterproductive, and naively “regulating AI” is more likely to cause harm than good.
- It would be really bad if China outpaces America in AI.
- Technological progress throughout history has dramatically improved our quality of life. If we solve alignment, we can look forward to material and cultural abundance.
But Marc dismisses the concern that we may fail to control models, especially as they reach human level and beyond. And that’s where I disagree.
More here.