Blog post argues that taking AI seriously should acknowledge that progress may continue
Understand this story
A blog post proposes that "taking AI seriously" should be defined as acknowledging that AI progress may continue at the pace of recent years, rather than asserting that it will stall or have only a minor impact. The author says the evidence for slowing progress is weaker than the evidence for continued progress, and argues that AI's impact in software, mathematics, and cybersecurity is already significant. The article draws an analogy to Borges's story "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius," in which a fictional world invades reality. The above judgments about the pace of progress are the author's own claims.
AI overview based on source reports · Updated 6 hr ago
Coverage timeline
Follow the coverage to explore different perspectives.
- Hacker News AITaking AI Seriously
The author argues that much programmer advice about AI assumes the technology will stay frozen at the time of writing, and proposes that taking AI seriously means considering it possible that progress continues at the pace of recent years—a refutable conjecture—rather than confidently asserting it will halt or have tiny impact. He illustrates the point with Borges's "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius," where a fictional world gradually invades ours.
Activity for this story
- Current comparable activity
- 9
- Peak comparable activity
- 10Nov 15 20:00
- Change in the past 24 hours
- –
Trends compare the same fully observed participants, which may cover fewer participants than current activity. Move the pointer or tap the chart to inspect hourly activity; use the left and right arrow keys with a keyboard.