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The world is currently like driving a car with only an accelerator pedal and no brake or telemetry, but proposals like IFP's build out the proverbial pedals and sensing systems so we can change course or slow down during a crisis.
The reason these recommendations matter is that fewer options for dealing with RSI mean worse outcomes; IFP-style proposals build the braking and sensing systems the AI industry currently lacks. ✦ AI generated
Jack Clark · Import AI · 2026-08-10 · original ↗
Right now, it's as if the world is driving AI development in a car that only has an accelerator pedal and no brake pedal, let alone any kind of sophisticated telemetry for knowing things ranging from the speed of the car to the properties of the engine to the wear on the tires. Proposals like this from IFP will build out more of the proverbial pedals and sensing systems for the vehicle of the AI industry, which means if we need to change course or slow down we'll be better able to during a moment of crisis.
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To slow or pause powerful AI development we need regimes for sharing information transparently from companies, plus tools for verifying that shared information and firms' slowdown actions are legitimate, paralleling nuclear arms control.Jack Clark · Import AI · conf 70%In MIT and Columbia's 'Racing to Ruin' game-theory model, the two key variables for rival AI firms achieving a stable coordinated slowdown are transparency about technology development and the ability to model rivals as trustworthy, rational actors.Jack Clark · Import AI · conf 60%Avoiding a 'death run' depends on the ability to trust other firms: with low trust every equilibrium races to ruin, while with high trust the probability that two rational firms race forever vanishes.Jack Clark · Import AI · conf 60%