A pause on frontier AI needs a plan for what comes next
jachiam0 · x · 2026-07-20
The author argues that calls to pause frontier AI often lack a concrete plan for what to do with the extra time. Beyond alignment work, they suggest we should start now on something broader: forecasting the technology tree across fields and tying national policy much more closely to those projections.
Their core warning is that major technology shocks can cascade into social conflict, economic surprises, and destabilized international relations. As an example, they point to hypothetical breakthroughs like a feasible space elevator on a ten-year horizon, and say AI progress should force society to prepare for those second-order effects.
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