Sometimes when I find someone to look up to and admire, I later find out there is potentially some dark reality to them. I then lament not being able to find any good role models in the world. If they have missused donor money, then that is terrible. If they are pushing towards goals that seems contrary to their stated mission, that is difficult to judge. I did always find it odd, 10 years after reading Yudkowsky's passionate writings, that he doesn't seem to have really gone and done anything about it. If it was all just a creative writing exercise to him... Then that would be rather humiliating to me, having taken it very seriously.
As a side note. If I had a choice to oppose a booming ai comoany, or become the billionaire founder of it, I would still choose to become the founder and then use my resource to do something about. It certainly feels hypocritical, but if you want to stop a boulder rolling down hill, what can you do besides run ahead of it and try stop it?
>Sometimes when I find someone to look up to and admire, I later find out there is potentially some dark reality to them
I too feel exactly what you are saying. I also think that a lot of good role models are simply often among less visible people, sometimes less ambitious. I am not assuming any hard correlation between the two, though. And we also need to accept that we are all only humans, not infallible. Values are more important than singular acts (within reasonable acceptance limits of course).
Anyway. I strongly recommend reading what Bill Gates has to say about AI. I can be wrong, but based on your comment it seems to me that you may find it interesting.
Wow, I admit I didn’t know about this. According to my coarse reading of the news sites it seems like there was no association in fact, but I won’t insist on anything, I only learnt about this now.
No worries, and sorry for assuming you knew about it.
Here is a Forbes article that goes over what is currently known: <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2026/04/08/what-we-know-about-bill-gates-connection-to-jeffrey-epstein-as-billionaire-prepares-to-testify/" rel="nofollow">https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2026/04/08/what-we...
Of course, none of this would be strong enough for accusing him of something in court, but it seems very implausible that his own account is truthful.
brendyn · · focus · HN ↗
As a side note. If I had a choice to oppose a booming ai comoany, or become the billionaire founder of it, I would still choose to become the founder and then use my resource to do something about. It certainly feels hypocritical, but if you want to stop a boulder rolling down hill, what can you do besides run ahead of it and try stop it?
alentred · · focus · HN ↗
I too feel exactly what you are saying. I also think that a lot of good role models are simply often among less visible people, sometimes less ambitious. I am not assuming any hard correlation between the two, though. And we also need to accept that we are all only humans, not infallible. Values are more important than singular acts (within reasonable acceptance limits of course).
Anyway. I strongly recommend reading what Bill Gates has to say about AI. I can be wrong, but based on your comment it seems to me that you may find it interesting.
tsimionescu · · focus · HN ↗
alentred · · focus · HN ↗
tsimionescu · · focus · HN ↗
Here is a Forbes article that goes over what is currently known: <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2026/04/08/what-we-know-about-bill-gates-connection-to-jeffrey-epstein-as-billionaire-prepares-to-testify/" rel="nofollow">https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2026/04/08/what-we...
Of course, none of this would be strong enough for accusing him of something in court, but it seems very implausible that his own account is truthful.