Handling Common Reactions
Acknowledge the concern
Show current AI capabilities
Connect to historical examples of "impossible" technology becoming reality
Computing Power
In 1943, Thomas Watson (IBM chairman) predicted "there is a world market for maybe five computers"
In 1977, Ken Olsen (Digital Equipment Corp founder) said "There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home"
Today, most people carry more computing power in their pocket than was used for the entire Apollo moon landing program
Aviation
In 1901, astronomer Simon Newcomb declared "no possible combination of known substances, known forms of machinery and known forms of force, can be united in a practical machine by which man shall fly long distances."
In 1903, the Wright brothers achieved powered flight
By 1950s, commercial jet travel was routine
Most of the heads of AI companies think that AGI will be here within a few years
"Here's the thing: The biggest AI companies - OpenAI, Anthropic, DeepMind - are saying they're probably 2-3 years away from AI systems that can match or exceed human intelligence across most tasks. Some are saying it could be even sooner. We're not talking about some far-off future problem."
Connect the dots to current issues:
"Once we have AI systems that can match human intelligence, they'll be able to work on all our current problems - but they'll do it millions of times faster than humans can. That's incredibly exciting, but it also means we need to get it right. If we mess this up, none of our other problems matter because we won't be the ones in control anymore."
Use concrete examples:
"Look at how fast things are moving: In 2022, AI couldn't reliably write code. Now it's outperforming human programmers. In 2021, AI was terrible at math. Now it's solving complex mathematical problems. The capabilities are increasing so rapidly that waiting even a few years to think about safety could be too late."
End with the key point:
"We don't have to choose between solving today's problems and ensuring AI is developed safely. In fact, we can't afford to ignore either. Safe AI could be the key to solving our current challenges - but only if we keep it under control."
Clarify that you support AI development
Emphasise that safety enables innovation
Draw parallels to safety measures in other industries
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