Eric Raymond makes the case against it.
This is the case against AI doom. Pass it on
— Eric S. Raymond (@esrtweet) September 17, 2026
First we recaptulate standard x-risk argument: we build AI substantially smarter than humans → it becomes an autonomous optimizing agent → its goals are misaligned → instrumental convergence makes it seek power and resist…
I guess “recaptulate” was meant to be “recapitulate?” What’s astounding to me is how many people think the “moral panic” about AI is evidence that AI exists.
“(ChatGPT 6 Astra assisted with the research for this post.)”
Perhaps a little self serving shaping by our ai overlords.
To me, the hysteria is a lot like y2k
Yep. I was deeply involved in the Y2K fixes and was amazed at how otherwise knowledgeable, tech-savvy people seemed to believe in it. I once addressed a room full of such believers and spent an hour explaining what I did for a living. At the end of the hour there were still a few end of the world gloaters in the audience. I think some were con men. And as you note…
LLM useful for catching things like “Oops I forgot about that item”.
Tired: Butlerian jihad
Wired: original jihad
“God has helped us, and so will AI”: How the Terrorist Group Boko Haram Uses Frontier AI
https://casp.ac/reports/ai-enabled-terrorism
I’ve seen a few stories of AI being used for crime but one wonders if the lack of reporting is because thieves don’t use it or if they do.
The long term threat of terrorists or low tech countries using AI as you mention doesn’t come from frontier models but from using open weight models. The cost of running one of the current top end open weights models is out of reach for most individuals but not a motivated group and it is much much cheaper to run open weight models from a few generations ago.
‘I am forming the AI Force, much like I did Space Force, which has been a tremendous SUCCESS, in my First Term. To that end, I will be announcing, in the near future, the AI “Czar” — Only High I.Q. individuals need apply!’
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117298821562014906
The Babylon Bee asked AI to give them the unbiased facts about data centers. I’m sure we can all take comfort from the result:
https://babylonbee.com/video/we-asked-ai-to-give-us-the-unbiased-facts-about-ai-data-centers
As Sarah Connor* tells us: …almost nothing like that…
*my given name for “her”.
Hey, something has to replace Climate Change!
Rand, are you an AI Doom Denier? Are there any collegiate scandals you are getting ready to write comparisons with AI Doomster investigations?*
*Don’t answer that! 🙂
Isn’t the drive to replace Climate Change Doom progress of a kind inasmuch as Climate Change is no longer the priority?