Brian Judge
Research Director, Berkeley Program on Finance and Democracy
In his latest op-ed for Project Syndicate, BESI’s Brian Judge argues that the real motivation for the AI industry’s recent warnings is more about propping up impending IPOs than concern for humanity.
Judge identifies two narratives that AI firms are pushing: AI will replace a good share of human workers, and AI poses an existential risk to humanity. The first narrative is necessary because competing for labor costs with workers is how AI firms promise they’ll become profitable. The second narrative distracts the public from the fact that capital’s interest in AI is waning. The idea that AI will destroy humanity if not sufficiently checked justifies firms pulling back on investment in new models.
Together, these narratives allow AI firms to maintain a happy equilibrium, where models are powerful enough to automate substantial swaths of white-collar work — and so will deliver revenue — but dangerous enough to make continued breakneck spending on frontier models imprudent.
Read full op-ed in Project Syndicate (free email sign-up required).