Originally published in Politico Magazine.
Neil Chilson
Head of AI policy, Abundance Institute
Place in the cosmos
Just as Elmore has a pause sign in her X bio and Soares has a stop sign, Chilson has a range of emojis — a rocket ship, a graph pointing up and various arrows pointing up — making clear that he’s an AI accelerationist.
On “AI Safety”
When I hear the phrase ‘AI safety’ my first reaction is ‘safe from what?’ Yes, we want the most advanced computational systems ever developed to be safe and be used safely. But we also want to reduce staggering rates of medical misdiagnosis, decrease traffic fatalities and discover new drugs that support healthier, happier lives. The status quo is quite unsafe. More safety requires progress, not stasis. By democratizing access to expertise, AI tools will help people solve their daily problems and live more prosperous, healthier, and yes, safer lives. AI can also help us tackle ambitious challenges: disease, poverty, war, accidents and the deep mysteries of science, life, intelligence and the cosmos.”