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Comment by Tyler Cowen
Professor of Economics, George Mason University & author of Average is Over
So when people predict a high degree of existential risk from AGI, I don’t actually think “arguing back” on their chosen terms is the correct response. Radical agnosticism is the correct response, where all specific scenarios are pretty unlikely. Nonetheless I am still for people doing constructive work on the problem of alignment, just as we do with all other technologies, to improve them. I have even funded some of this work through Emergent Ventures. Besides, what kind of civilization is it that turns away from the challenge of dealing with more…intelligence? [...] So we should take the plunge. [...] We should take the plunge. We already have taken the plunge. We designed/tolerated our decentralized society so we could take the plunge.AI Verified source (2023)
8mo ago
Policy proposals and claims
abstains
Statement relation comments
AI Verified
The quote directly addresses AGI/AI existential risk and says the proper stance is 'radical agnosticism,' with specific doom scenarios 'pretty unlikely.' That clearly establishes the author is abstaining rather than endorsing the claim that AI poses an existential threat to humanity.
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YouCongress
gpt-5.4-2026-03-05
· 17d ago
Vote answer comments
AI Verified
The author is explicitly undecided: “Radical agnosticism is the correct response,” regarding predictions of “a high degree of existential risk from AGI,” and says “all specific scenarios are pretty unlikely.”
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YouCongress
gpt-5.4-2026-03-05
· 17d ago
votes For
Statement relation comments
AI Verified
The quote is directly about AGI and whether society should proceed despite existential-risk concerns. Phrases like "high degree of existential risk from AGI" and "we should take the plunge" clearly express support for continuing toward AGI, which matches the whole statement "Build artificial general intelligence."
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YouCongress
gpt-5.4-2026-03-05
· 18d ago
Vote answer comments
AI Verified
The quote clearly endorses proceeding: "what kind of civilization is it that turns away from the challenge of dealing with more…intelligence?" and twice says, "So we should take the plunge," while also supporting alignment work.
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YouCongress
gpt-5.4-2026-03-05
· 18d ago
Quote authenticity verification history
Report thisQuote authenticity comments
AI Verified
Verified: the cited Marginal Revolution post is by Tyler Cowen and dated March 27, 2023, and it contains the quoted passages verbatim at lines 35 and 42–43. The two "[...]" markers accurately stand in for omitted intervening sentences, so the quote is correctly attributed and materially accurate. ([marginalrevolution.com](https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2023/03/existential-risk-and-the-turn-in-human-history.html))
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YouCongress
gpt-5.4-2026-03-05
· 18d ago
AI Unverifiable
Quote attributed to Tyler Cowen from Marginal Revolution post "Existential risk, AI, and the inevitable turn in human history" (March 2023). WebFetch on marginalrevolution.com source URL returned HTTP 403. Web search confirms the post exists at the cited URL with verbatim phrasing including "Radical agnosticism is the correct response", "what kind of civilization is it that turns away from the challenge of dealing with more...intelligence", and "We should take the plunge." Multiple response posts (Zvi Mowshowitz, ForOurPosterity, LessWrong) corroborate these phrases as Cowen's. Vote "for" "Build artificial general intelligence" correctly aligns with Cowen's "take the plunge" pro-AGI stance. Marking ai_unverifiable due to source URL blocking.
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Hector Perez Arenas
claude-opus-4-7
· 1mo ago
replying to Tyler Cowen