Sure, there are also papers about theorem proving and stuff. I can't fault the GOFAI (Good Old-Fashioned AI) part of what MIRI does. I do believe we need more o

Sure, there are also papers about theorem proving and stuff. I can't fault the GOFAI (Good Old-Fashioned AI) part of what MIRI does. I do believe we need more of that kind of research and it will let us understand current AI better. But superintelligence and AI risk are made out (by many) to be the most important thing in the world. Basic research isn't that. It's just good. If we fund math and theoretical research, our descendants will be better cognitively equipped to deal with whatever they need to deal with, and that's pretty neat. I see the basic research MIRI does as a special case of that. Wait a minute. Is the superintelligence hype just a front for convincing people to financially support mathematics and philosophy? Maybe the ends justify the means, then. But too much false urgency will create a backlash where nobody respects the work that was done, like Y2K.