Crossposting from my substack.

Note for LW: This post is about the apathy and nonchalance I've been seeing in many peers regarding AGI. There seems to be massive cognitive dissonance (and it isn't straightforward to overcome) – how can we on the one hand talk about things like AIs becoming smarter than humans across all domains, and on the other just carry on with our everyday lives? I've been searching for ways to explain this kind of apathy, and for ways to convey how serious this is to people that don't think about it much (e.g. my parents). This is my first attempt at doing that, and I'd appreciate any and all thoughts.

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Note: I use a combination of real and fictional names for the characters in section 1.

The revolution will not be televised
The revolution will not be brought to you
By Xerox in four parts without commercial interruptions
The revolution will not show you pictures of Nixon blowing a bugle
And leading a charge by John Mitchell, General Abrams, and Spiro Agnew
To eat hog maws confiscated from a Harlem sanctuary
The revolution will not be televised
Gil Scott-Heron

1. Tsunami

When the Earth starts to... settle, God throws a stone at it. And believe me, He's winding up.
Ultron

Waves

It’s Tuesday morning. I’m enjoying my quiet drive to work. The sun is beaming warmth onto my arms through the car window. To my left, the bay is a deep turquoise, a color that I’ve come to associate with San Francisco’s best days.

My phone screams at me. I jolt and pick it up to see what’s happened. “Tsunami Warning.” My stomach tightens. I’ve never seen one of these before. Earthquake off the coast of Eureka, it says. Chance of tsunami. Get to high ground.

Hmm. Whatever. I put my phone down and continue driving.

Something feels off and a sense of unease wells up inside my chest. I’ve seen The Impossible, so I’m a little worried. I pick up the phone and call my brother, Chirag. He lives in San Francisco.

“Hey, did you get the tsunami warning?”

“Yup, that was weird.”

“Yeah, strange. What should we do?”

“I’m not sure, I think it’s fine though. We’ll see.”

“Okay, just be careful.”

I put the phone down and continue my drive, feeling slightly eased by Chirag’s reaction (or lack thereof). I pull into the office parking lot and park alongside my coworker’s car. She’s just getting out. I open my door, climb out onto the little side-step, and call out.

“Hey Dhruv,” she says calmly.

“Did you see th...

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