I've long worried that the AI safety ecosystem would devolve into a grift with lots of money sloshing around, all cloaked in feel-good terms like "nonprofit" and "independent". It's too bad - this piece is an excellent descriptor of how the system sadly works, so hopefully this Jenga tower falls over sooner than later.
Thanks. I read your very good post and I agree about inner and outer AI. The problem I think is that people on the inner side are worried about technical issues and they don’t think much about how the technology appears to the average person. People who write for a non-technical audience mostly don’t understand the technology. Besides that, there is big money behind the Doomer side that’s not matched by people who are optimistic about it. Interesting that you are not seeing learning improving in the classroom with AI. That’s part of the problem—the average person’s experience is very different from the experts.
Greg - the dominant narrative is that no one is seeing learning improvement. Positive stories about AI’s impact in the classroom are practically non-existent. The media sets the agenda. I’ve spoken to a number of reporters and their thesis going into the story is it’s all bad so that’s what they are looking for. We forget so much how, even still, the mainstream media is a gatekeeper and agenda setter for what gets discussed. It can be hard to know what’s really going on. But your headline resonates - there is definitely a Doomer Industrial complex!
Thanks for this article. I have a view on this, and a prescription: https://substack.com/home/post/p-195494072
I've long worried that the AI safety ecosystem would devolve into a grift with lots of money sloshing around, all cloaked in feel-good terms like "nonprofit" and "independent". It's too bad - this piece is an excellent descriptor of how the system sadly works, so hopefully this Jenga tower falls over sooner than later.
Good write up - this fits neatly into my post this morning - how is the average person supposed to follow these stories?
https://fitzyhistory.substack.com/p/two-types-of-ai-news-content
Thanks. I read your very good post and I agree about inner and outer AI. The problem I think is that people on the inner side are worried about technical issues and they don’t think much about how the technology appears to the average person. People who write for a non-technical audience mostly don’t understand the technology. Besides that, there is big money behind the Doomer side that’s not matched by people who are optimistic about it. Interesting that you are not seeing learning improving in the classroom with AI. That’s part of the problem—the average person’s experience is very different from the experts.
Greg - the dominant narrative is that no one is seeing learning improvement. Positive stories about AI’s impact in the classroom are practically non-existent. The media sets the agenda. I’ve spoken to a number of reporters and their thesis going into the story is it’s all bad so that’s what they are looking for. We forget so much how, even still, the mainstream media is a gatekeeper and agenda setter for what gets discussed. It can be hard to know what’s really going on. But your headline resonates - there is definitely a Doomer Industrial complex!