Richard Ngo: Elites ignored AI not from stupidity but because it seemed weird and cringe
RichardMCNgo · x · 2026-10-12
Richard Ngo argues elites instinctively flinch from taboos: rats at least engaged with neoreactionary content while non-rat EAs blocked it from public discourse despite its relevance to African poverty. By analogy, elites ignored AI for so long not because they were dumb, but because it seemed weird and cringe. EAs, being truth-seeking, eventually oriented to it anyway—slowly and hesitantly (MacAskill downplayed the weird stuff in Doing Good Better; Holden took seven years to come around). He adds that his interlocutor offered no actual counterargument.
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