/Tech1d ago

Rob Wiblin warns against AI pauses, citing calculations that a 0.1% GDP growth increase compounds to $1 trillion

Wiblin cited classic progress papers by Bostrom and Ord.

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Rob Wiblin@robertwiblin#1153inTech

Longtermism is good again!

But just wait until someone tells them about:

Bostrom, N. (2003). Astronomical waste: The opportunity cost of delayed technological development. Utilitas, 15(3), 308–314.

Or 'Ord, T. (2024) On the Value of Advancing Progress'.

Mindblowing stuff.

7:57 AM · Jun 9, 2026 · 9.4K Views
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Users dismiss the 'astronomical waste' framing in longtermism arguments for accelerating AI progress as merely rebranded opportunity cost already understood for decades.

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Matthew Barnett@MatthewJBar

@robertwiblin I don't think Bostrom's argument in Astronomical Waste suggests that we should pause AI, as I argued here: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/oFsEsECrHzW6KBXJW/why-i-reject-the-longtermist-argument-against-accelerating

Rob Wiblin@robertwiblin

Longtermism is good again!

But just wait until someone tells them about:

Bostrom, N. (2003). Astronomical waste: The opportunity cost of delayed technological development. Utilitas, 15(3), 308–314.

Or 'Ord, T. (2024) On the Value of Advancing Progress'.

Mindblowing stuff.

16hViews 795Likes 11Bookmarks 5
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Séb Krier@sebkrier

@robertwiblin oh don't worry I've heard about these before :)

Rob Wiblin@robertwiblin

Longtermism is good again!

But just wait until someone tells them about:

Bostrom, N. (2003). Astronomical waste: The opportunity cost of delayed technological development. Utilitas, 15(3), 308–314.

Or 'Ord, T. (2024) On the Value of Advancing Progress'.

Mindblowing stuff.

22hViews 497Likes 13Bookmarks 0
Rob Wiblin@robertwiblin

And no Bostrom isn't arguing something different now, his recent paper is explicitly just about exploring the implications of the person affecting view (which no sane person would give 100% probability or weight to), leaving other perspectives to future papers:

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gvp@gvp324377

@robertwiblin Did they apply hyperbolic discounting, which is how humans think about the future?

1dViews 44
Will Kiely@William_Kiely

@robertwiblin @paulfchristiano 's 2014 post On Progress and Prosperity directly addresses this.

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/L9tpuR6ZZ3CGHackY/on-progress-and-prosperity

23hViews 27
Johnny Yukari@JYukariHero

@robertwiblin Astronomical waste is just opportunity cost with better branding. Anyone running the numbers knew this decades ago.

1dViews 4