Every article about AI this week is like "Today, there's not yet a human who has eaten hot wings so hot that they spontaneously burst into flame. But, as we develop hotter and hotter sauces, we must confront the fact that one day — and that day may come very soon — one of the guests on Hot Ones will become The Inhuman Torch from Marvel Comics and annihilate the eastern seaboard in an all-consuming flame. We must prepare for that inevitable future."
An intern at MIRI furiously scribbles equations on a blackboard, slowly at first, then faster and faster. He steps back, trembling, hand over his mouth, eyes wide. He runs down the hall, in to his superior's office, voice quavering, and says "Sir… sir, I think we may have made a mistake. I think that… I think…" — he puts a hand on a nearby wall to steady himself, then looks straight ahead — "I think that 'thought experiments' might not actually be experiments"