>personally if I thought I was doing something that was going to wholly or partly cause the “extinction” of the human race. I would stop doing it There are so

>personally if I thought I was doing something that was going to wholly or partly cause the “extinction” of the human race. I would stop doing it There are so many things wrong with this line of thinking. First, it mischaracterizes the issues. Few people believe AGI guarantees the extinction of humanity. The issue is that there is a significant potential for extinction and thus we need a coordinated effort to either manage this risk or prevent its creation. It does little to stop the coming calamity to single-handedly abstain from continuing to build. Coordination is a must. Besides, most people will think they stand a greater chance of building it safely than the next guy. The coordination is required to keep other people from being irresponsible. Human hubris knows no limits. The other mistake is misjudging nerd psychology. You can believe there's a high chance of what you're working on being dangerous and still be unable to stop working on it. As Oppenheimer put it, "when you see something that is technically sweet, you go ahead and do it". It is a grave error to discount the motivation of trying to solve a really sweet technical problem. Ultimately these kinds of claims are self-serving, they provide rational cover to justify your predetermined beliefs that those calling for regulation are trying stifle competition. Folks don't want to be left out of the fun. The justification is in service to the motivation.