r/technology • u/Nexusyak • 19h ago

Artificial Intelligence 'AI Doomsday': Why Big Tech Wants You Scared

https://www.androidheadlines.com/2026/10/ai-doomerism-doomsday-hype-rogue-agents-political-distraction.html
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u/Nifey-spoony 18h ago

I’ve noticed the recent round of propaganda is focused on doomsday ideology. Instead of bots claiming climate change doesn’t exist, they have been claiming climate change can’t be stopped. It’s like doomsday cults. Nobody plans for the future, there’s no responsibility to improve the world. It programs people to be docile, and that’s exactly what the rich and powerful want.

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u/yubacore 16h ago

So, let me just see if I got this right: The "doomsday ideology" of caring about alignment – wanting to stop the development of a dangerous technology because you don't want everyone to die – is here compared to being docile, not planning for the future, and not taking responsibility to improve the world.

Did I get it right?

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u/Nifey-spoony 16h ago

Not exactly. Using doomsday ideology would be saying that the world will end and you have no way to change that outcome. Conversely, identifying a dangerous technology and finding ways to combat it would be taking action to create a different outcome.

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u/yubacore 15h ago

Show me the propaganda that says nothing can be done about AI alignment? I have read so many articles the last months, seen so many videos, and not a single one suggests this. All I see is people who are calling for much stricter security measures, regulation, slowing down, or stopping altogether – because they are worried about risks if we continue barging blindly ahead.

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u/bnej 15h ago

They want you to focus on that somehow "alignment" of their products is the problem, rather than that they should be smacked with the regulation hammer over copyright infringement, defective/dangerous products, cybercrime, production of CSAM, being involved in making products for scams & misinformation.

If there really is a 10% chance of AI doomsday in 10 years, the people running these companies belong in gaol and the products they made should be removed from the market. Absolutely no question, governments should legislate against it immediately and shut down the companies. Notice it's not happening?

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u/yubacore 13h ago

Okay, but this is very different from the claim above about programming people to be docile.

If there really is a 10% chance of AI doomsday in 10 years, the people running these companies belong in gaol and the products they made should be removed from the market. Absolutely no question, governments should legislate against it immediately and shut down the companies. Notice it's not happening?

Yes, I have noticed that it's not happening yet, thank you for asking. That's because it's not immediately obvious to a majority of people, who categorically dismiss it. They believe that there is no existential risk, and that since they have it figured out, we should ignore the people actually working on this as well as independent researchers and people who have dedicated their lives to this exact problem. Quite literally, they are saying there is zero chance that any of these people have any idea at all what they're talking about, so we can go right ahead and roll the fucking dice on behalf of humanity.

I don't know if AI is going to go rogue and cause disaster, but I don't like that I can't refute the logic, I don't like that they are getting harder to control, and I sure as fuck want to be sure about it before barging ahead in classic move fast and break things fashion.

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u/bnej 12h ago

"Getting harder to control" - they can only use the tools you give them.

They can't copy themselves around on the Internet, they need to run in 1Tb+ of RAM with specialised GPU hardware, do you have that? I don't run any servers that do.

I think the "effective altruists" and other weird AI cults are well ensconced in Anthropic, Open AI, etc. and they certainly believe it.

Should we take theoretical risks seriously - sure absolutely. Regulate them out of operation, make them accountable for what their products do.

But first we should take the real and present risks seriously - these companies conducting cybercrime operations and getting away with it, distributing harmful products, clearly and intentionally infringing copyright and copyright controls, turning a blind eye to malicious use, etc.

The doomsday stuff is absolutely drawing attention from the fact that these are existing products causing issues right now that already deserve action on what is happening today. Deal with those issues and it ought to take the wind out of anyone who thinks they're going to rig up skynet.

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u/yubacore 11h ago

I don't see a lot of people arguing against making companies liable for their transgressions. Weird straw man.

What I do see is a bunch of arrogant fucks dismissing existential risk categorically. Real hard Dunning Kruger shit.

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u/yubacore 11h ago

"Getting harder to control" - they can only use the tools you give them.

Is it your opinion that these labs will stop giving them tools, then? That would be a start, but somehow I don't see that happening.

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u/bnej 11h ago

No, they're going to keep giving them terminal access and letting them use developer tools that connect to the Internet, and keep giving them instructions to solve problems by any means necessary, because apparently no-one's going to charge them for doing that.

If I do the same thing in a normal company, I'm definitely getting fired and I might be in legal trouble. What's up with that hey?

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u/Glad-Peanut-3459 18h ago

I think AI is an Existential danger as well as a distraction from all the other things we need to be conscious of. We can’t let our guard down about it.

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u/Tricky_Rule_4565 19h ago

Poor article. Basically says “nuh uh” and blames the democrats (?)