A field guide to AI positions

Eight ideas and labels

The PDF and text downloads use the same explanations as this page.

Eight ideas and labels

These short explanations include qualifications. A movement, a field of research and a label used by critics are different kinds of thing.

Artificial intelligence (AI)

AI is a field of computing. Its systems use computer programs and hardware to recognize patterns, generate content or make predictions. [23] [22] [14]

Keep in mind: AI and artificial general intelligence (AGI) are different terms. A system can perform a particular task well without having broad human-level abilities. [10]

Language models & large language models (LLMs)

An LLM is a model trained to process language. Computer software runs it and, for text generation, produces an answer one piece at a time. [16] [17] [15]

Keep in mind: A model can produce a convincing sentence without checking it against an external source. Search or other tools must be supplied by the surrounding application. [13] [18]

e/acc: Effective accelerationism

A movement favoring faster technological growth and opposing centralized restraint. Its claim that acceleration leads to better outcomes is a philosophical position, not a demonstrated safety guarantee. [3] [4]

Keep in mind: Broader techno-optimism does not imply e/acc membership. Its thermodynamic arguments do not establish that AI is safe. Buterin offers a counterpoint: profit alone does not automatically select beneficial directions for technology. [4] [6]

Decel: Deceleration

An informal label for wanting slower AI development, often used as criticism. Check which limits a person actually supports. [4]

Keep in mind: A safety rule, a pause on the most powerful AI and opposition to all technology are different positions. PauseAI says its proposed treaty would usually leave narrow applications unaffected, but also proposes considering longer-term research and hardware restrictions. [8]

More ideas and labels

AI doomer

A disputed label for people emphasizing catastrophic AI risks. Concern does not mean believing disaster is inevitable. [5] [9]

Keep in mind: The CAIS statement calls for reducing extinction risk; it does not say extinction is certain or give a shared probability. The Atlas does not automatically label anyone a doomer. [9]

EA: Effective altruism

A community seeking effective ways to help others. Critics question whose measures of benefit count and how much power donors should have. [2] [19] [20]

Keep in mind: Alice Crary argues that measures of benefit can miss political causes of harm. Emma Saunders-Hastings warns about donors’ power over people receiving help. EA’s own FAQ replies that institutional change belongs in its scope and that EA need not be utilitarian. These disputes concern how help is defined and governed. EA, longtermism and AI safety are not interchangeable. [19] [20] [21] [7]

AI safety & alignment

Research aimed at reducing AI harms and improving reliability and alignment with intended goals. A safety goal or framework is not proof that a system is safe. [12] [11] [1]

Keep in mind: A safety framework records stated safeguards, not a guarantee of safe implementation or a measured catastrophe probability. [1]

p(doom): Probability of doom

Someone's estimated chance of an AI disaster. Check what outcome, time period and assumptions the number refers to. [5] [24]

Keep in mind: These are judgments, not measured disaster rates. Grace and colleagues asked about different outcomes, loss of control and time limits. They warn that AI expertise does not guarantee forecasting skill and who responds can affect results. They still consider researchers' estimates useful. [24]

Sources for the idea sheet

Numbers beside the explanations lead to the cited publications below. The full reading notes and retrieval limits are linked from each idea. A citation is not proof that its author is right.

  1. Strengthening our Frontier Safety Framework

    https://deepmind.google/blog/strengthening-our-frontier-safety-framework/

  2. What is effective altruism?

    https://www.effectivealtruism.org/articles/introduction-to-effective-altruism

  3. what the f* is e/acc

    https://effectiveaccelerationism.substack.com/p/what-the-f-is-eacc

  4. Notes on e/acc principles and tenets

    https://effectiveaccelerationism.substack.com/p/repost-notes-on-eacc-principles-and

  5. Guillaume Verdon: e/acc, AI doomers and effective altruism (transcript #407)

    https://lexfridman.com/guillaume-verdon-transcript/

  6. My techno-optimism

    https://vitalik.eth.limo/general/2023/11/27/techno_optimism.html

  7. Longtermism

    https://www.williammacaskill.com/longtermism

  8. PauseAI Proposal (April 2026 version)

    https://pauseai.org/proposal

  9. Statement on AI Extinction Risk

    https://aistatement.com/work/statement-on-ai-extinction-risk

  10. Levels of AGI for Operationalizing Progress on the Path to AGI

    https://arxiv.org/abs/2311.02462

  11. Risks from Learned Optimization in Advanced Machine Learning Systems

    https://arxiv.org/abs/1906.01820

  12. Concrete Problems in AI Safety

    https://arxiv.org/abs/1606.06565

  13. Artificial Intelligence Risk Management Framework: Generative Artificial Intelligence Profile

    https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/ai/NIST.AI.600-1.pdf

  14. Machine Learning Glossary

    https://developers.google.com/machine-learning/glossary

  15. LLMs: What's a large language model?

    https://developers.google.com/machine-learning/crash-course/llm/transformers

  16. Models

    https://huggingface.co/learn/llm-course/en/chapter2/3

  17. Text generation

    https://huggingface.co/docs/transformers/en/llm_tutorial

  18. Tool use

    https://huggingface.co/docs/transformers/en/chat_extras

  19. Against ‘Effective Altruism’

    https://www.radicalphilosophy.com/article/against-effective-altruism

  20. Response to Effective Altruism

    https://www.bostonreview.net/forum/peter-singer-logic-effective-altruism/response-emma-saunders-hastings/

  21. Frequently asked questions and common objections

    https://www.effectivealtruism.org/faqs

  22. software

    https://csrc.nist.gov/glossary/term/software

  23. Explanatory memorandum on the updated OECD definition of an AI system

    https://www.oecd.org/content/dam/oecd/en/publications/reports/2024/03/explanatory-memorandum-on-the-updated-oecd-definition-of-an-ai-system_3c815e51/623da898-en.pdf

  24. Thousands of AI Authors on the Future of AI (version 3)

    https://arxiv.org/html/2401.02843v3

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Created by Timo Fahlenbock · Legal notice (Impressum)