watching issues ripple through X is literally watching a massively parallelized cybernetic biocomputer trying to process reality.

Overall, this points to a neglected downside of transformative AI: that society might become permanently static, and that current power imbalances might be amplified and then turned immutable.

This means that those with significant capital when labour-replacing AI started have a permanent advantage. They will wield more power than the rich of today—not necessarily over people, to the extent that liberal institutions remain strong, but at least over physical and intellectual achievements.

If you read this post and accept a job at a quant finance company as a result, I will be sad. If you were about to do something ambitious and impactful about AI, and read this post and accept a job at Anthropic to accumulate risk-free personal capital while counterfactually helping out a bit over the marginal hire, I can’t fault you too much, but I will still be slightly sad.