The AI Apocalypse Is Here

The essay observes that American public opinion on AI ranges from ambivalence to horror, with some blaming industry leaders' apocalyptic rhetoric for fundraising rather than genuine public concern. It contrasts this with more favorable Chinese attitudes, but argues the distrust reveals a deeper cultural intuition: the widespread adoption of AI cannot be reconciled with a free society, and even if AI does not end life on Earth, it will destroy the American way of life.

To support this, the author cites AI industry leaders' own predictions of a “permanent underclass” once AI exceeds all human cognitive capacities, and their warnings that misaligned AI could lead to human extinction. Unlike past industrialists like Andrew Carnegie, today's tech titans have boasted of apocalyptic power. While they have recently softened their rhetoric and disavowed full economic obsolescence, major corporations remain officially committed to artificial general intelligence (AGI) — defined as outperforming humans at most economically valuable work. AI already outpaces humans in many research areas, and AI-generated text and music are overwhelming the digital landscape.

The essay then surveys current regulatory schemes: partial nationalization backed by figures like Steve Bannon and Bernie Sanders, Marsha Blackburn's proposed protections for “children, creators, conservatives, and communities,” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's moratorium on data center construction, the Trump administration's interventions blocking model releases for national security, and calls for an international treaty banning superintelligence. These are deemed salutary signs of awakening, but the author argues that even these critics do not fully reckon with what AI portends, given the extraordinary pace of progress.