Timothy Lee Sees Potential in Data Center Backlash for Doomers

Timothy B. Lee posted that doomers should not be too negative about the data center backlash against AI. He noted that while the movement is kind of dumb, mass movements often are, and it might still advance their goals. Eli Dourado replied that making anti-AI efforts a mass movement was a mistake from the start. Such movements lose control of the message, leading to assorted anti-AI outcomes that only barely and incidentally reduce existential risk. The exchange shows strategic disagreements among critics of AI development over using public backlash to data centers.