Fool's Expertise | The Observation Deck

Steven Pinker Replies to Scott Alexander on AI

The dangers of AI are real, but doomerism may be counterproductive.

AI Doomsday Bullshit Is Getting Tired

The "rogue AI" narrative continues to help obscure very ugly and avoidable human failures.

Freefall 4399 July 13, 2026

TRANSCRIPT Sam: Telling the computer what I want to have done. It makes my job easy. I don't know how it works. I don't know what I'm actually doing. Sam: I've always assumed the other guys know what they're doing. If they're using A.I. as well... this could be a problem. Sam: It makes it too obvious that almost nobody knows what they're actually doing. That destroys one of the illusions societies are built on.

AI Doomsday Panic Is Completely Out Of Control

The press obsession with software-powered doomsday is a misdirection overshadowing a much deadlier reality: our public interest regulators no longer function.

How Nvidia’s Jensen Huang became AI’s global salesman

Chipmaker’s chief is urging countries to build their own AI ecosystems — but using its tech

Doom Analysis

pirate wires #164 // if we keep building artificial intelligence, are you, and everyone you know

AI Doomers Are Starting to Admit It: They’re Going Too Far

One of the biggest doomsayers of artificial intelligence has done an about-face—and it could help save the world.

Doomscrolling

Doomscrolling is the act of spending an excessive amount of time on digital content that elicit negative emotions. The concept was coined around 2018, and became more widespread in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The World Health Organization (WHO) observed that the pandemic was accompanied by widespread misleading information, conspiracy theories, and false reports, which it referred to as an "infodemic".

On AI Coding and Its Discontents - Cal Newport

Back in January, I received a note from a senior software engineer in Silicon Valley. He described himself as an AI skeptic who became converted ... Read more

The Phony Comforts of AI Optimism

A few months ago, Casey Newton of Platformer ran a piece called "The phony comforts of AI skepticism," framing those who would criticize generative AI as "having fun," damning them as "hyper-fixated on the things [AI] can't do." I am not going to focus too hard on this

For years, they warned AI could kill all humans. Now people are listening.

A doomsaying community once on the periphery of the tech industry has gained influence, as AI “agents” perform amazing and alarming feats.

Jacob Coxon Warns of Human Extinction and Triggers a Preference Cascade

CEOs of major AI labs, and employees of major AI labs, including OpenAI and Anthropic, often say they plan to build superintelligence soon, as in within a few years create AIs that are superior to humans at essentially all cognitive tasks.

Daniel Kokotajlo on Twitter / X

Dan Selsam is a current OpenAI capabilities researcher. (since 2022) He was my boss for a while. He doesn't have a twitter account but has made this public statement of his views on AI risk and sent it to me to share:Dan Selsam's Personal Statement on AI Risk:I have been…— Daniel Kokotajlo (@DKokotajlo) September 14, 2026

“Computers enable fantasies” – On the continued relevance of Weizenbaum’s warnings

“The computer has long been a solution looking for problems—the ultimate technological fix which insulates us from having to look at problems.” – Joseph Weizenbaum (1983)   Trying to kee…

Here Are a Few of the Ways AI Could In Fact Kill Everyone

It has become fashionable to ask “doomers” to “get specific” about their dooming. Well, aiight then.