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> So this letter's message will fall on deaf ears

AI companies are alienating the communities they serve. Instead of a win-win dynamic, they are keen on a win-lose proposition. You dont win trust by one-upping your customer. This is unfortunate and suggests a lack of adults in the room. It also reeks of hubris and is all good when making profits is not a concern. But watch the narrative shift when there is an AI slowdown which is inevitable.

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> This letter is complaining that human understanding has been crucial to advancing of mathematics, and AI companies are not bothering with it.

Ironic or what. Mr Tao may be remembered as Mathematics' Canute.

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> Keep in mind employees at AI companies are publicly stating that they believe they're risking a >10% chance of human extinction.

Are we really going to take what they say in public seriously?

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The point of mathematics is human understanding though.
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That's only one of mathematics' many purposes.
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Exactly!

What got me interested in memes as a kid is precisely the fact that mathematics is true in a way that is wholy independent of our understanding of it.

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