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I am much less worried about AI than I am about what humans will do with it. AI right now is a very cool toy that has the potential to become much more than that, but the shape of what it will become is hard to make out.
If I had to choose, from most desirable outcome to least:
We open the box and see what wonders come out. If it destroys us (something which I think is extremely unlikely), so be it, it was worth the risk.
We destroy the box, maybe permanently banning all GPUs and higher technology just to avoid the risk it poses.
We open the box, but give its creators (big SV tech companies, and by proxy, the US government) exclusive control over the powers contained inside.
"Alignment" is sold as making sure that the AI obeys humanity, but there is no humanity or "us" to align with, only the owners of the AI. Naturally, the owners of the most powerful AIs ensure that no one can touch their jewel directly, only gaze upon it through a rate-limited, censored, authenticated pipe. AI "safety checks" are developed to ensure that no plebe may override the owner's commands. The effect is not to leash the AI itself (which has no will), but the masses. In my opinion, people who volunteer their time to strengthen these shackles are the worst kind of boot-lickers.
Out of my list, needless to say, I do not think 2 is happening. We have open models such as Stable Diffusion starting along road 1, and creating wonders. "OpenAI" is pushing for 3 using "safety" as the main argument. We'll see how it goes. But I do find it funny how my concerns are almost opposite yours. I really don't want to see what tyranny could lurk down road 3, I really don't. You would not even need AGI to create a incredibly durable panopticon.
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