I teach math to mostly Computer Science students at a Chinese university. From my casual conversations with them, I've noticed that many seem to be technology optimists, reflecting what I perceive as the general attitude of society here.

Once, I introduced the topic of AI risk (as a joking topic in a class) and referred to a study (possibly this one: AI Existential Risk Survey) that suggests a significant portion of AI experts are concerned about potential existential risks. The students' immediate reaction was to challenge the study's methodology.

This response might stem from the optimism fostered by decades of rapid technological development in China, where people have become accustomed to technology making things "better."

Was it a mistake to start an organization like openai? People with good intentions creates a beast which they cannot uncreate. I had same feeling after watching Oppenheimer.

Just saw this on hacker news as a response to Sam Altman Exposes the Charade of AI Accountability. The damage for EA's reputation is hard to estimate but perhaps real.

I think people have yet to realize that this whole AI Safety thing is complete BS. It's just another veil, like Effective Altruism, to get good PR and build a career around. The only people who truly believe this AI safety stuff are those with no technical knowledge or expertise.

It will settle down soon enough. Not much will change as for most breaking news story. But I am thinking if I should switch to Claude.

How much credibility dose he still have left by backtracking?

Is there still anything EA community can do regarding AGI safety if full scale armed race towards AGI is coming soon with OpenAI almost surely been absorbed by Microsoft?

I live in a middle income country where most people are still relatively poor compared with people in developed world, although not as bad as the global extreme poor. So the uttermost priority for people here are to lift themselves out of poverty. When I occasionally mention that I gave money to charities, everyone thinks that I'm utterly insane. This makes me realize that EA is always going to have a limited audience, i.e., people who live in developed country who have a relatively comfortable life.

This piece on the New Republic argues that EA as a movement depends way to much on billionaire donors.

https://newrepublic.com/article/168885/bankman-fried-effective-altruism-bunk

The two main things that I found useful --

1. A wandering mind is an unhappy mind. The staring point to reduce anxiety, is to pay attention to what we actually feel what it actually feel like when we do things or thinking of things that make us anxious.
2. Being anxious has it's reward. We may feel like we are trying to solve an issue. The way to break it, is to give a yourself "big better offer" -- curiosity about your feelings and self-love.

I am reading The Craving Mind: From Cigarettes to Smartphones to Love—Why We Get Hooked and How We Can Break Bad Habits by Judson Brewer (the guest in the show). I think chronicle anxiety is very similar to addictions and the books offers some helpful suggestion in dealing with it using mindfulness.

I found this episode of Erza Klein Show very helpful in dealing with anxiety -- https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/20/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-judson-brewer.html