[more_corn]

This is a false choice fallacy.

We’re perfectly capable of simultaneously acknowledging two risks. Imagine a toxic substance that is both an inhalation hazard and a burn hazard. You’d never caution people to stop talking about the inhalation hazard “because it sucks all the oxygen out of the room” and masks the burn hazard. You address both hazards at the same time.

There are multiple risks inherent in AI research. It’s ok to acknowledge them all. Some people assert that the existential risk is long term and unlikely so we should focus on the immediate risk. That is a mistake because the existential risk is not long term and not unlikely.