Yes, books are a big investment, so it was rude of me to fail to explain why it is worth people’s time to look into getting them.
Mearshimer’s Tragedy of Great Power Politics (Ch. 1 and 2): Explains in detail why governments and militaries keep doing all these horrible things, like gain-of-function research, or creating offensive nuclear stealth missiles that deliberately disguise their radar signiatures as computer glitches.
Nye’s Soft Power (2004, Ch 1 and 4): Explains why governments take the media so seriously, and it gives one of the the best explanations I’ve seen for why massive, competent lies are critical for national security. Chapter 4 also gives a fantastic history of propaganda, including describing the nitty-gritty of how propaganda has become prevalent in modern media.
Both of these books are absolutely critical for anyone trying to understand AI policy, and only a small fraction of each book needs to be read in order to get 95% of the neccesary information.
Yes, books are a big investment, so it was rude of me to fail to explain why it is worth people’s time to look into getting them.
Mearshimer’s Tragedy of Great Power Politics (Ch. 1 and 2): Explains in detail why governments and militaries keep doing all these horrible things, like gain-of-function research, or creating offensive nuclear stealth missiles that deliberately disguise their radar signiatures as computer glitches.
Nye’s Soft Power (2004, Ch 1 and 4): Explains why governments take the media so seriously, and it gives one of the the best explanations I’ve seen for why massive, competent lies are critical for national security. Chapter 4 also gives a fantastic history of propaganda, including describing the nitty-gritty of how propaganda has become prevalent in modern media.
Both of these books are absolutely critical for anyone trying to understand AI policy, and only a small fraction of each book needs to be read in order to get 95% of the neccesary information.
I didn’t mean to imply any rudeness on your part. Thank you for the recommendation and summary.
Could you say in short what the reasons Mearhimer and Nye give and how/why you think it impact on AI safety?
I think it would be good to hear some different perspectives on the issue of A(G)I policy, especially less socially desirable/cynical ones.