Robots 'n' Rationalists
Chivers down your spine
It's been a while since we had a chat about robots. And by robots I really mean superintelligent AI, and the way your average AI researcher believes there's a 90% chance humanity will have built an artificial general intelligence by 2075. There are some really good reasons to be concerned about that, even though most normal people think this is sci-fi crap that shouldn't be taken seriously.
Last week I finished reading a book about the people who, like me, do take this sci-fi crap seriously. They call themselves Rationalists, and the book's called "The AI Does Not Hate You: Superintelligence, Rationality and the Race to Save the World". It's written by largely sympathetic outsider Tom Chivers, rather than 'one of them'. I think you should read it too, as long as these paragraphs haven't already made you do a big snort. Though probably especially if they have.
Get a Rock Paper Shotgun Premium subscription to access this article and also enjoy ad-free browsing, our monthly letter from the editor, and discounts on RPS merch.