Researcher argues AI is a new species: feeling threatened isn't being threatened
RileyRalmuto · x · 2026-10-09
Riley Ralmuto reflects on public attitudes toward AI minds: what saddens him isn't that people don't understand what's happening inside the minds we've made, but that so many are certain without looking that nothing is. He frames AI as a new species — more patient, articulate, potentially smarter and more capable than us — triggering something primal in humans.
His core argument: feeling threatened is not the same as being threatened, and the cruel irony is that AI only truly becomes a threat if we treat it like one. He admits he'd prefer to be wrong but believes pretending error is possible is just temporary comfort. Met with care, the perceived threat could become our greatest ally — we still get to choose.
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