As an American, I think this is actually a really good point. The only reason to even consider racing with China to build AI is if we believe the outcome is better if America “wins”. Seems worth keeping an eye on the political situation in the US, e.g. for stuff like PEPFAR cancellation, to check if the US “winning” is actually better from a humanitarian perspective. Hopefully lab leaders are smart enough to realize this.
Lab leaders are probably trying mostly to maximize the value of their company, not the value of the world in my view. (Doesn’t mean they give zero weight to moral considerations.) Also, if the US government realizes that they are reasoning along the lines of “let’s slow down development because it doesn’t matter if the US beats China”, the US government will probably find ways to stop them being lab leaders.
As an American, I think this is actually a really good point. The only reason to even consider racing with China to build AI is if we believe the outcome is better if America “wins”. Seems worth keeping an eye on the political situation in the US, e.g. for stuff like PEPFAR cancellation, to check if the US “winning” is actually better from a humanitarian perspective. Hopefully lab leaders are smart enough to realize this.
Lab leaders are probably trying mostly to maximize the value of their company, not the value of the world in my view. (Doesn’t mean they give zero weight to moral considerations.) Also, if the US government realizes that they are reasoning along the lines of “let’s slow down development because it doesn’t matter if the US beats China”, the US government will probably find ways to stop them being lab leaders.