To clarify, my friends (even if they are very smart) did not come up with all AI safety arguments by themselves, but started to engage with AI safety material because they had already been looking at the world and thinking “hmm, looks like AI is a big thing and could influence a lot of stuff in the future, hope it changes things for the good”. So they got quickly on board after hearing that there are people seriously working on the topic, and it made them want to read more.
To clarify, my friends (even if they are very smart) did not come up with all AI safety arguments by themselves, but started to engage with AI safety material because they had already been looking at the world and thinking “hmm, looks like AI is a big thing and could influence a lot of stuff in the future, hope it changes things for the good”. So they got quickly on board after hearing that there are people seriously working on the topic, and it made them want to read more.