Researcher laments AI discourse where optimism beats understanding: 'cheerleaders, not scientists'
RexDouglass · x · 2026-09-25
Researcher Rex Douglass complains about AI-circle culture: a superforecaster tried to browbeat him for being 'too pessimistic' discussing LLM machinery and limitations, since models improved faster than expected — moving the goal from understanding to cheerleading. A perfectly good metaphor, he adds, got absorbed into an identity club where people use different memes to feel they understand SOTA better, without any better scientific understanding.
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