That’s the headline of the latest Free Press column, here’s the closing one:
Sick and elderly Americans will turn to Chinese companies for AI-invented and AI-tested medical devices and drugs. America will still be a rich country, so China will charge the highest prices, but prioritize the care of Chinese citizens. Many Americans will die prematurely, at least compared to the world where most of these innovations come from the U.S. My colleague Alex Tabarrok has coined this sentence. an unseen grave to refer to this lost soul, it does not appear because we do not observe the state of the world that can be easily and cheaply treated. Over time, these invisible graves will number in the millions.
Finally, we will ask what went wrong.
Postmortem will be this. Many people are panicking about the possibility of strong AI models killing us all. The fear is not based on peer-reviewed scientific research that shows a high probability of doom, nor is there any doom shown in market prices at the time, including a measure of risk. It’s a story, like this story, and it’s spreading on social media. The main point of the doom story is that, if America remains number 1 in the AI model, the model will be so strong that it will do, or cause an unimaginable disaster. We are so afraid that America remains in the lead, forgetting that if AI really destroys our destiny, the doomer scenario could also come from Chinese AI.
Today, we cannot say that the AI doomsday scenario is false. But what stories do we want to tell? Are these beliefs a good way to protect and prolong life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? Will it help us much, or for long, if Chinese AI turns us on and does it?
According to me, the community is successful in accepting challenges and meeting them. Solving the problem, bit by bit, is the best way to ensure that we have the ability to face the big and truly existential risks, if the risks come together. Debate about our possible doom, his exon a highly speculative basis, it is unlikely to provide the same type of expertise and talent cultivation. It is more likely to demoralize and immobilize us.
So which America will we vote for?
Recommended, read the whole thing.