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MIRI has launched a new campaign trying to inform the public about extinction risk - donotaccept.ai. An article (link) says that they intend to show the video in cinemas and do some outdoor marketing in NYC as well.
MIRI CEO is quoted saying “AI companies are racing to build superintelligence, and the public never agreed to the risks that come with it. We made this campaign with Don’t Panic so people can see what they’re being signed up for, and say no.”
It’s great that MIRI is investing in comms campaign but I don’t feel like the ad as-is is going to be very effective at convincing anyone not familiar with the matter:
Superintelligence is not defined, not even on the website, so a viewer who didn’t know the term already is unlikely to understand what it’s about. My guess would be that many may confuse it with Trump’s “Super Intelligence" rebranding of AI.
The video states the point (“ASI threatens everything we love”) but makes no supporting argument why that would be the case. It tries to appeal to emotions but in doing so it doesn’t convey much - most people would readily agree that human extinction is a bad outcome.
A typical ad tries to hook the viewer and then get them to take action (e.g. go to a website). Here it seems like the viewer needs to visit the website just to hear the full argument. Imagine if this was saying something like “The scientists are trying to kill you, read more on donotsupport.science” - would you go to that website?