It’s been over two and a half years since Paul put this blog post on takeoff speeds online. In particular, it argues that the “fast takeoff” undergone by humans is not very strong evidence that AIs will also undergo a fast takeoff, because evolution wasn’t “optimising for” humans taking over the world.
I think this argument has been fairly influential—possibly disproportionately influential, given its brevity. I find it moderately persuasive, but not entirely so, and I’m currently working on a post explaining why. What I’m wondering is: have there been other critiques or responses to this argument? Because it currently seems to me like there’s been very little public engagement with it.
No.
There was “My Thoughts on Takeoff Speeds” by tristanm.
The AISafety.com Reading Group discussed this blog post when it was posted. There is a fair bit of commentary here: https://youtu.be/7ogJuXNmAIw