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Notes -
I see it as the value alignment of those at the head. Sam Altman isn’t perfect, but he’s at least nominally aligned with EA values of making things better for everyone. He’s not a classic sociopathic shark at one of the big tech firms that was born into massive wealth, went to Harvard, did the standard track, and parasitically drained value from the masses.
Again I’m not saying Altman is some sort of hero, clearly he’s sociopathic if he’s made it that far into the power structure. But at least he’s a relative outsider and there’s hope he can steer us to better outcomes because he thinks more deeply about the consequences of AI than the folks who stop at the idea of gaining money and power.
But it doesn't matter. Jack Dorsey is a free speech guy, he was still forced to make Twitter conform to the establishment's preferences. It wasn't because he had a change of heart, because now that he's free from his creation, he's working on decentralizing social media.
Even if Altman is truly devoted to the good of humanity, and even if EA actually benefits humanity, that means absolutely nothing. What can he do when they come for him and make him kiss the ring?
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