Six months ago, I was a high school English teacher.

I wasn’t looking to change careers, even after nineteen sometimes-difficult years. I was good at it. I enjoyed it. After long experimentation, I had found ways to cut through the nonsense and provide real value to my students. Daily, I met my nemesis, Apathy, in glorious battle, and bested her with growing frequency. I had found my voice.

At MIRI, I’m still struggling to find my voice, for reasons my colleagues have invited me to share later in this post. But my nemesis is the same.

Apathy will be the death of us. Indifference about whether this whole AI thing goes well or ends in disaster. Come-what-may acceptance of whatever awaits us at the other end of the glittering path. Telling ourselves that there's nothing we can do anyway. Imagining that some adults in the room will take care [...]

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First published:

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.