Information warfare and psychological warfare are well known terms. However, I would suggest that any well-intentioned outsider trying to figure out “what’s going on with AI right now” (especially in a governance context) is effectively being subject to the equivalent of an information state of nature (a la Hobbes). There are masses of opinions being shouted furiously, most of the public experts have giant glowing signs marked “I have serious conflicts of interest”, and the number of self-proclaimed insiders trying to get power/influence/money/a job at a lab/a slice of the lightcone by marketing insider takes is kind of deafening. And of course the companies are running targeted influencing/lobbying campaigns on top of all this, trying to position themselves as the sole reliable actors.
Information warfare and psychological warfare are well known terms. However, I would suggest that any well-intentioned outsider trying to figure out “what’s going on with AI right now” (especially in a governance context) is effectively being subject to the equivalent of an information state of nature (a la Hobbes). There are masses of opinions being shouted furiously, most of the public experts have giant glowing signs marked “I have serious conflicts of interest”, and the number of self-proclaimed insiders trying to get power/influence/money/a job at a lab/a slice of the lightcone by marketing insider takes is kind of deafening. And of course the companies are running targeted influencing/lobbying campaigns on top of all this, trying to position themselves as the sole reliable actors.