AI risk researcher: "I can't imagine extinction scenarios" isn't a rebuttal
davidmanheim · x · 2026-09-15
AI safety researcher David Manheim pushed back on AI extinction-risk skeptics in a thread involving Gary Marcus:
- Claiming you "can't imagine realistic scenarios where humans go extinct" isn't an argument about the risk — it's an argument from personal incredulity
- Plausible extinction pathways have been explicitly proposed; if skeptics are confident they're wrong, they should explain why and identify the exact points of disagreement
The post captures a recurring criticism from the AI safety community that skeptics express disbelief without engaging with specific proposed risk scenarios.
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