What those “Let’s slow AI down or it will kill us” calls REALLY mean

I have urgent (NOTHING serious, but urgent) family matters to attend in half an hour today, but there is something about all these really responsible, really concerned calls to save humanity that I want to share right now, so here it is. Please forgive me if this post contains almost no sources for my argument, and thanks in advance for adding in the comments all the ones you want (including sources that would prove me wrong, of course).Service announcement: if you like what you find here, thanks in advance for considering a (possibly paid) subscription or, even better, one-time donations for any amount via PayPal (mfioretti@nexaima.net) or LiberaPay. For other ways to support me, please see the last paragraph of this post.“Let’s all slow down AI before it kills us all”, say the gurus:In case you missed what I’m talking about, here is a short, more or less random selection of the apocalyptic calls issued in the last 2/3 days:‘Extinction’ warnings ramp up as more OpenAI, Anthropic…