You’ve probably seen this one before: first it looks like a rabbit. You’re totally sure: yes, that’s a rabbit! But then — wait, no — it’s a duck. Definitely, absolutely a duck. A few seconds later, it’s flipped again, and all you can see is rabbit.

The feeling of looking at that classic optical illusion is the same feeling I’ve been getting recently as I read two competing stories about the future of AI.

According to one story, AI is normal technology. It’ll be a big deal, sure — like electricity or the internet was a big deal. But just as society adapted to those innovations, we’ll be able to adapt to advanced AI. As long as we research how to make AI safe and put the right regulations around it, nothing truly catastrophic will happen. We will not, for instance, go extinct.

Then there’

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