Dan Selsam's AI risk statement called essential reading amid safety funding debate
JacquesThibs · x · 2026-09-17
Blogger Jacques Thibodeau recommends Dan Selsam's statement on AI risk (shared by Daniel Kokotajlo) as the week's essential read, rating its importance 8/10, alongside commentary on the debate over concentration in AI safety funding.
- He recalls how, in 2018-2020, AGI risk advocates trying to collaborate with AI ethics scholars were dismissed as lunatics, likened to "worrying about overpopulation on Mars"
- He argues those advocates spent years quietly running experiments and building expertise, only to see their concerns sidelined again
- The 18-minute essay covers researcher choices and the ongoing funding-concentration dispute within the safety community
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