#235 – Ajeya Cotra on whether it’s crazy that every AI company’s safety plan is ‘use AI to make AI safe’

The prospect of an AI-driven intelligence explosion remains a central point of contention, with expert expectations for economic growth ranging from marginal improvements to thousand-fold increases. This divergence stems from conflicting priors regarding historical technological progress and the potential for AI to automate both cognitive and physical infrastructure. A viable path forward involves leveraging early transformative AI systems to solve critical safety, alignment, and biodefense challenges before models reach uncontrollable levels of power. To manage this transition, AI developers should adopt rigorous transparency protocols, including regular reporting of internal capability benchmarks and safety incidents. Such data provides essential early warnings, allowing society to coordinate protective measures and redirect AI labor toward defensive research rather than purely capability-focused acceleration. This approach requires balancing competitive pressures with the urgent need for global coordination to navigate the risks of rapid, transformative technological change.