Imagine if fossil fuel companies had helped, early-on, to hammer into the public perception of oil how it might end up being disastrous for humanity instead of burying the studies they made.
I don't think we would have stopped using fossil fuels, but maybe we would have been in a better spot today.
He shapes the public image of AI in a way that the only "safe" way of having AI is that it's controlled by megacorporations like MS, Google or Facebook, and that anyone running a model privately at home is a potential criminal.
Also, in the unlikely case that OpenAI has given birth to a malevolent AI that is trying to take over the world right now, then that AI might come to the conclusion that one of the biggest threats to its existence aren't humans themselves, but other AI models created by humans. So "AI must be regulated" can just as well be the product of a rogue AI that doesn't want some other rogue AI to take over control.
We should apply the same principles to fight each of these tendencies and reject special treatment for big players in all it's forms.
https://www.thespruce.com/do-pine-needles-acidify-soil-14031...:
> When a myth dies hard, you can bet that it is either because people want to believe it (for example, when it makes their lives easier) or because there is a kernel of truth in it just big enough to make it convincing. The long-lived gardening myth that pine needles lower soil pH falls into the latter category. It is a twofold myth, erroneously claiming that pine needles should be used as a mulch only around acid-loving plants, and that they will acidify compost if added to a compost bin....
> Perhaps lending further credibility to the myth is that gardeners often observe that it is difficult to grow most plants under large pine trees. They attach an assumption to this observation: It must be that the pine needles shed by the tree cause the soil there to become acidic. However, this is a case of drawing an incorrect conclusion from the facts. The reasons most plants perform poorly when grown under large pine trees are that the trees cast too much shade, or the root system of the trees blankets the soil surface, forming a barrier and sucking up most of the available water and nutrients.
A better example would be Black Walnut:
https://extension.illinois.edu/blogs/ilriverhort/2018-08-06-...:
> Black walnuts (Juglans nigra) are one of the best known allelopathic plants. Black walnut trees naturally contain a chemical called juglone which can inhibit the growth of some plants. Walnut buds, nut hulls, and roots contain the largest amount of juglone. However, even walnut leaves and stems contain a small concentration of juglone.
Saying your product is a disaster for humanity is...a bold marketing strategy...
But if I took a guess: more internalization of climate change by the general population, earlier investments into alternative sources of energies, maybe baking in carbon pricing early on before we all became completely dependent on oil.