I’m confused why you characterized as “fashionable” to ask other people about timelines. That’s technically true but both in and outside of EA, nobody asks either about why it’s become more “fashionable” in the last couple years to ask about the chance of nuclear war or tipping points for climate change.
It’s presumably obvious that people are asking for reasons like:
already working in AI alignment and checking how timelines might influence how their own trajectories should change.
to check whether transformative AI is so imminent it should be someone’s top priority.
they are skeptical or simply curious and want more information.
If there is a good reason it was phrased that way I haven’t noticed, please feel free to clarify. Otherwise, it seems best to be clear what we directly mean to talk about.
I’m confused why you characterized as “fashionable” to ask other people about timelines. That’s technically true but both in and outside of EA, nobody asks either about why it’s become more “fashionable” in the last couple years to ask about the chance of nuclear war or tipping points for climate change.
It’s presumably obvious that people are asking for reasons like:
already working in AI alignment and checking how timelines might influence how their own trajectories should change.
to check whether transformative AI is so imminent it should be someone’s top priority.
they are skeptical or simply curious and want more information.
If there is a good reason it was phrased that way I haven’t noticed, please feel free to clarify. Otherwise, it seems best to be clear what we directly mean to talk about.