Marcus on AI

Tyler Cowen has become the ultimate “AI Influencer”, and I don’t mean that as a compliment. “AI Influencers” are, truth be told, people who pump up AI in order to gain influence, writing wild over-the-top praise of AI without engaging in the drawbacks and limitations. The most egregious of that species also demonize (not just critique) anyone who does point to limitations. Often they come across as quasi-religious. A new essay in the FT yesterday by Siddharth Venkataramakrishnan calls this kind of dreck “slopganda”: produced and distributed by “a circle of Al firms, VCs backing those firms, talking shops made up of employees of those firms, and the long tail is the hangers-on, content creators, newsletter writers and marketing experts.”

Sadly, Cowen, noted economist and podcast regular who has received more than his share of applause lately at The Economist and The Free Press, has joined their ranks, and—not to be outdone—become the most extreme of the lot, leaving even Kevin (AGI will be here in three years) Roose and Casey (AI critics are evil) Newton in the dust, making them look balanced and tempered by comparison.