Stuart Russell

So what we are making is imitation humans, at least in the verbal sphere.

And so, of course, they're going to replace us.

They're not tools.

So you would press the button?

So I say, I think there is another course, which is use and develop AI as tools, tools for science, tools for economic organization and so on, but not as replacements for human beings.

Yeah, so, and that's why I'm reluctant because I don't agree with the, you know, what's your probability of doom or your so-called P of doom number because that makes sense if you're an alien.

You know, you're in a bar with some other aliens and you're looking down at the earth and you're taking bets on, you know, are these humans going to make a mess of things and go extinct because they develop AI?

Right.

So it's fine for those aliens to bet on that.

But if you're a human, then you're not just betting, you're actually acting.

Yeah, and I would argue no.

I mean, maybe what we would say, if we said, okay, it's going to stop the progress for 50 years.

And during those 50 years, we can work on how do we do AI in a way that's guaranteed to be safe and beneficial?

How do we organize our societies to flourish in conjunction with extremely capable AI systems?

So we haven't answered either of those questions.

And I don't think we want anything resembling AGI until we have completely solid answers to both of those questions.

So if there was a button where I could say, all right, we're going to pause progress for 50 years, yes, I would do it.

Yeah, so if that button is there, stop it for 50 years, I would say yes.

Stop it forever.

Not yet.