/Tech4h ago

Cambridge academic Seán Ó hÉigeartaigh defends AI researchers' policy warnings, arguing technical experts have been directionally accurate on key issues

Other safety researchers compared the skepticism to early internet-era warnings.

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Seán Ó hÉigeartaigh@S_OhEigeartaigh#1566inTech

They haven't been, and won't be, right about everything, but I'd posit they have been more directionally correct than those who haven't, and on important things. Though collaboration with domain experts of course v important.

Joshua Saxe@joshua_saxe

AI is full of people who spent the last 15 years measuring and hill climbing capabilities and who now think capabilities map directly to societal, economic, and safety consequences, and pontificate about this in public and even set policy

2:57 AM · Jul 6, 2026 · 2.3K Views

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Henry Shevlin@dioscuri

@S_OhEigeartaigh I also think “last 15 years” is inaccurate. Until pretty recently (2023?) a good half of the technical experts of my acquaintance were convinced we were on the wrong track.

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David Manheim@davidmanheim

@S_OhEigeartaigh Base rate for large tech shifts from first computers, then internet, then smart phones, is that timing is optimistic and otherwise the skeptics are getting it wrong.

That said, plausible counterexamples include VR+AR, Crypto, 3D Printing, and Robotics.