AI Article Readings

The Scary Bridge - by MoridinamaelIn this post Moridinamael uses a short allegorical scene, a town hall debate about a dangerous bridge, to illustrate how technical arguments about real, mechanistic risks get flattened into emotional narratives by both allies and opponents, and how onlookers end up judging the validity of claims based on the perceived confidence and composure of the speakers rather than the substance of what they're actually saying.https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/jbPgRMiEqnJbwtsim/the-scary-bridge This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit askwhocastsai.substack.com/subscribe

Consider chilling out in 2028 - by Valentine. In this post Valentine argues that if the AI risk landscape in early 2028 looks functionally the same as it does today, perpetually escalating alarm without correspondingly escalating real-world evidence of doom, the rationalist community should treat that as a serious signal to pause, reconsider its decades-long strategy of frightening people into action, and explore whether unexamined psychological and emotional dynamics might be distorting collective threat perception more than anyone currently appreciates.* 00:00 - Introduction* 02:22 - Inner cries for help* 08:59 - Scaring people* 12:13 - A shared positive vision* 18:14 - Maybe it’ll be okay* 22:06 - Come 2028…https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/D4eZF6FAZhrW4KaGG/consider-chilling-out-in-2028 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit askwhocastsai.substack.com/subscribe

Against the Luddites - By SE GygesIn this post, SE Gyges argues that the contemporary rehabilitation of the Luddites as thoughtful technology critics is historically dishonest. Drawing on labor history, Marx and Engels, and modern post-capitalist thinkers, the piece makes the case that Luddism was a reactionary defense of guild privilege and male craft monopoly, not a progressive workers' movement, and that better intellectual traditions exist for anyone serious about the politics of automation.* 00:00 - Introduction* 01:28 - An Elite Movement* 03:05 - The Exclusion of Women* 06:01 - Marx and Engels Saw Through It* 09:01 - Restoration, Never Revolution* 11:57 - Conclusionhttps://open.substack.com/pub/verysane/p/against-the-luddites?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit askwhocastsai.substack.com/subscribe

dark ilan - By Ozy Brennanhttps://open.substack.com/pub/ozybrennan/p/dark-ilan?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit askwhocastsai.substack.com/subscribe

This post by Corvin is a pastiche of the ACX Bay Area House Party Series. https://open.substack.com/pub/ravenstales/p/every-acx-house-party?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit askwhocastsai.substack.com/subscribe

Every Debate On Pausing AI - By Scott Alexanderhttps://open.substack.com/pub/astralcodexten/p/every-debate-on-pausing-ai?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit askwhocastsai.substack.com/subscribe

“Full Cast” AI reading of Being John Rawls - By Scott Alexander. * 00:00 - Introduction* 03:23 - II* 11:27 - III* 20:21 - IV* 25:00 - V* 31:17 - VIhttps://open.substack.com/pub/astralcodexten/p/being-john-rawls?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit askwhocastsai.substack.com/subscribe

In this article, SE Gyges argues that the widely cited “stochastic parrots” critique of large language models is not only outdated but actively harmful to serious discussion of AI. The piece examines how the argument misunderstands modern AI systems, ignores advances like multimodal training and reinforcement learning, and rests on a narrow definition of “meaning.” By walking through both empirical evidence and conceptual flaws in the original claim, Gyges contends that dismissing LLMs as mere parrots prevents society from grappling with the real ethical and political challenges posed by systems that demonstrably do work. * 00:00 - Introduction* 02:31 - Even If True, The Argument Is Irrelevant* 03:32 - The Argument Doesn’t Apply to Any Major Model Since 2023* 06:45 - The Argument Was Already Obsolete When Published* 08:05 - The Argument Is Empirically False* 08:19 - The Octopus Test* 12:05 - The Platonic Representation Hypothesis* 13:24 - Form Carries Meaning* 15:48 - The Argument Is Badly Constructed* 16:07 - Parrots Are Amazing, Actually* 16:56 - The Definition of Meaning Is Circular* 19:28 - Conclusionhttps://open.substack.com/pub/verysane/p/polly-wants-a-better-argument?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit askwhocastsai.substack.com/subscribe

In this article David Oks takes a familiar story about technology and jobs, the idea that ATMs automated banking without destroying teller work, and turns it on its head, arguing that the real disruption came later from the smartphone era. Using the history of bank branches, bank tellers, and mobile banking, he explores a broader point about technological change: that the biggest effects often come not when a new tool replaces part of a job, but when it creates an entirely new way of doing things that makes the old role far less necessary. * 00:00 - Introduction* 07:17 - ATMs didn’t kill bank teller jobs* 20:32 - But iPhones actually did* 26:25 - Automating a job is much harder than making it irrelevanthttps://open.substack.com/pub/davidoks/p/why-the-atm-didnt-kill-bank-teller?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit askwhocastsai.substack.com/subscribe

A short story by Tomás Bjarturhttps://open.substack.com/pub/tomasbjartur/p/the-elect?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit askwhocastsai.substack.com/subscribe