This, too, had a incredibly diverse number of signers across the political spectrum -- it's definitely a bit strange to be on the same list as Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Sir Richard Branson, Susan Rice, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, and Yuval Harari! superintelligence-statement.org

The second letter was from the Future of Life Institute, stating quite simply "We call for a prohibition on the development of superintelligence, not lifted before there is (1) broad scientific consensus that it will be done safely and controllably, and (2) strong public buy-in."

I hope that this letter (and its signatories) help influence the ways in which AI is developed and used. www.americansecurityfund.com/_files/ugd/1...

It was incredible how a diverse religious coalition could coalesce around most policies surrounding AI, and this is an area where most religious leaders are small-c conservative -- including liberal religious leaders, and that’s a real positive.

In fact, that DIFFERENCE b/w Judaism and Christianity was a potentially huge strength of this letter -- there was a general consensus about the need for regulation, to center humanity, push for transparency, ensure safety for children, fight against bias, protect privacy & work for the common good.

Since it was mainly right-leaning Christians, at least a couple of times, there was talk about "Judeo-Christian" values. I pushed back against that language, and said that Judaism and Christianity are different religions, different traditions, and different ways at looking the world.

The first came out of a conversation I just had at the Vatican, and run by the American Security Foundation. It was mostly evangelicals, Catholics, LDS elders, and policy-makers who focus on religious liberty, and if nothing else, I think I added one important nuance to the conversation.

But for those of us who celebrate and love science, inquiry and freedom, we need more than just "It's not fundamentalism." We need deeper discussions and offer frameworks and structures that inspire not just the head, but the heart and soul, as well.

They’re looking to heady concepts — confession, atonement, forgiveness, grace and redemption — for answers."
There aren't easy answers to these questions, and it can be dangerous to go too far in one direction or the other.

The challenge is how we broaden our worldview at the same time that we deepen our commitments to those closest to us. As Lauren Jackson writes, "People...want to belong to richer, more robust communities, ones that wrestle with hard questions about how to live.