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Import AI 431: Technological Optimism and Appropriate Fear

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Welcome to Import AI, a newsletter about AI research. Import AI runs on lattes, ramen, and feedback from readers. If you’d like to support this, please subscribe. Import A-Idea An occasional longer form essay series Preamble: After giving this speech there was a helpful discussion in the Q&A session about whether it is load-bearing to me if AI systems are themselves truly self-aware and sentient or not. My answer is this is not load-bearing at all. Rather, things like ‘situational awareness’ in AI systems are a symptom of something fiendishly complex happening inside the system which we can neither fully explain or predict - this is inherently very scary, and for the purpose of my feelings and policy ideas it doesn’t matter whether this behavior stems from some odd larping of acting like a person or if it comes from some self-awareness inside the machine itself. Technological Optimism and Appropriate Fear Remarks given at ‘The Curve’ conference in Berkeley, California, as the sun beg

Import AI 431: Technological Optimism and Appropriate Fear What do we do if AI progress keeps happening? Jack Clark Oct 13, 2025 441 78 89 Share Welcome to Import AI, a newsletter about AI research. Import AI runs on lattes, ramen, and feedback from readers. If you’d like to support this, please subscribe. Subscribe Import A-Idea An occasional longer form essay series Preamble: After giving this speech there was a helpful discussion in the Q&A session about whether it is load-bearing to me if AI systems are themselves truly self-aware and sentient or not. My answer is this is not load-bearing

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