A Pascal's Wager for AI doomers

Article

• Cory Doctorow argues AI doomerism distracts from real, present corporate harms.
• His ‘Pascal’s Wager’: even if AI isn’t dangerous, escaping surveillance tech is still right.
• Pushes toward open-source ‘international digital public goods’ over US tech lock-in.
• Skeptical that current statistical techniques lead to true intelligence or godlike AI.

Discussion

• Commenters argue Doctorow underestimates LLM capabilities and relies on outdated framing.
• ‘Saltcured’ names a second AI doomer flavor: society collapsing from AI cultists pushing it everywhere prematurely.
• Pron notes superhuman intelligence wouldn’t grant godlike control over nonlinear systems.
• General split: those who see Doctorow’s corporate critique as valid vs. those who think he’s rationalizing.

Discuss on HN