Sigal Samuel

For @vox.com, @sigalsamuel.bsky.social gathered advice for those who hate how generative AI is being rolled out. @smw.bsky.social speaks to working collectively to fight against AI being used on us, not by us.
www.vox.com/future-perfe...

Geopolitical competition leaves AI bridge powers in a difficult situation where they’ll soon likely face insurmountable barriers to independent frontier AI development. To stay relevant and thrive economically, they need to work together and strategically choose their AI development approaches.

You can keep a child from starving for less than $100 Fighting hunger can feel impossible. But thanks to new innovations, it’s actually never been cheaper.

You can save a kid from starving. Right now. Seriously. It's cheaper than you might think! Do you have $94? Then you can do it today, nothing's stopping you

This is what I found out when reporting this story and it kind of blew my mind

www.vox.com/future-perfe...

Your site is mentioned in the article!

Sigal's asking (and answering) such good questions here about how to build a movement around making sure that AI works for us and not the other way around...feels like we only scratched the surface of a deep and important convo.

Is AI being shoved down your throat at work? Here’s how to fight back. Resistance to exploitative AI starts with building a movement.

For those who hate how generative AI is being rolled out (blindly, uncritically), here's my advice:

www.vox.com/future-perfe...

Can an entire society be mentally ill? A perspective from 1960 | Psyche Videos Does psychology truly improve wellbeing? Or merely help us adjust to an ‘insane’ system? Erich Fromm on mental health in 1960

Does psychology truly improve wellbeing? Or merely help us adjust to an ‘insane’ system? In this 1960s video, the social psychologist, psychoanalyst and philosopher Erich Fromm explores the nature of mental health

Always read @drmichaellevin.bsky.social

The last talk on the second day of the #NaturalPhilosophy Symposium was Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social on Can AI Be Conscious? Commentary by E.J. Green.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bzvs...

This is an absolute gem. It feels connected to Gibran's "On Crime"--and is a "dilemma" with which I strongly resonate. But I love how this framing makes it more a navigation of an integrated whole than a dilemma.

How Big Tech uses NDAs to hide AI data center details from Americans Big Tech companies use secrecy agreements with local governments to keep communities from knowing who is building in their backyards.

How NDAs keep AI data center details hidden from Americans:

Big Tech companies use secrecy agreements with local governments to keep communities from knowing who is building in their backyards.

www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-ne...

You don’t need better boundaries. You need a better framework. “Setting boundaries” is broken — but there’s a different way to think about caring for yourself and others.

> We’re taught that "a boundary…defines you as separate from others" Yet if you believe that we’re all profoundly interconnected and interdependent then that idea of boundaries may feel like it muddies more than it clarifies

Always read @sigalsamuel.bsky.social

www.vox.com/the-highligh...

The spiritual life calls out to me. But is it self-indulgent? When the world is on fire, meditation feels selfish. But it can help you do good better.

Chaser:

www.vox.com/future-perfe...

Shot:

You don’t need better boundaries. You need a better framework. “Setting boundaries” is broken — but there’s a different way to think about caring for yourself and others.

If setting boundaries never feels totally right to you, maybe you're not the problem. Maybe it's "boundaries."

For @vox.com, I wrote about how our societal language of "boundaries" is broken, and I offer an alternative from Buddhist psychology:

www.vox.com/the-highligh...

You don’t need better boundaries. You need a better framework. “Setting boundaries” is broken — but there’s a different way to think about caring for yourself and others.

"If you believe, as I do, that we’re all actually profoundly interconnected and interdependent, that we’re constantly influencing and shaping reality for one another, then that idea of boundaries may feel like it muddies more than it clarifies."

Read @sigalsamuel.bsky.social's advice column:

Seeking the Spiritual Life Podcast Episode · How God Works: The Science Behind Spirituality · 10/19/2025 · 28m

Does being spiritual mean withdrawing from the world to a life of contemplation, or being in the world actively trying to heal it? I talk with @sigalsamuel.bsky.social and Father Greg Boyle about this age old question and how to find balance.

Exclusive: Big Philanthropy teams up to take on Big AI A new coalition of 10 major givers, including the Omidyar Network and Ford Foundation, are investing $500 million in an effort to ensure Americans have a say in how artificial intelligence impacts the...

Proud to serve on the @macfound.org Board + of this initiative

“What we are seeking to do is to invest public interest dollars to ensure that the development of the technology serves humans and places humanity at the center of this development,” @palfrey.org

www.fastcompany.com/91420384/exc...

Jane Goodall reveals what studying chimpanzees teaches us about human nature The renowned primatologist wants us to remember that humans aren’t so exceptional — we’re animals, too.

Thinking of the time I spoke to Jane Goodall and she

(a) hooted "This is me!" as a chimp would (listen ⤵️)

&

(b) told me it was actually helpful for her to go into the field without scientific training or an academic degree, because that let her see without blinders

www.vox.com/future-perfe...

Consciousness Across Three Worldviews | NOEMA Central concepts in three different domains — Hindu tradition, computer science and quantum physics — find analogies and reflect one another.

What do computer science, quantum physics & Hindu tradition have in common?

It’s more than you might think, Swami Sarvapriyananda, @blaiseaguera.bsky.social & Carlo Rovelli write.

#consciousness #ai #hinduism #quantumphysics

“AI will kill everyone” is not an argument. It’s a worldview. How rational is Eliezer Yudkowsky’s prophecy?

ICYMI I wrote about Eliezer Yudkowsky's book, which is built on a tower of assumptions, of “maybes” and “probablys” that compound, which makes it wildly overconfident about doom being a sure thing.

The irony is that Mr Probability has stopped thinking probabilistically!

www.vox.com/future-perfe...

Think your AI chatbot has become conscious? Here’s what to do. If you believe there’s a soul trapped inside ChatGPT, I have good news for you.

I get lots of emails from people who believe they've awoken consciousness within ChatGPT. If you come across anyone in that situation, please share this guide I wrote with them.

There's something more interesting going on here than just "delusional people are deluded."

www.vox.com/future-perfe...

Ah to have been a fly on the wall of that room in Rome!

“AI will kill everyone” is not an argument. It’s a worldview. How rational is Eliezer Yudkowsky’s prophecy?

I had a very trippy experience reading the new Eliezer Yudkowsky book, IF ANYONE BUILDS IT, EVERYONE DIES.

I agree with the basic idea that the current speed & trajectory of AI progress is incredibly dangerous!

But I don't buy his general worldview. Here's why:

www.vox.com/future-perfe...

The AI doomers are not making an argument. They’re selling a worldview. How rational is Eliezer Yudkowsky’s prophecy?

If you read one review of If Anyone Builds It Everyone Dies make it @sigalsamuel.bsky.social 's about competing #AI worldviews

"It was hard to seriously entertain both [doomer and AI-as-normal tech] views at the same time."

www.vox.com/future-perfe...

Obsessing about being a good person can backfire. There’s a better way. The paradox of moral perfectionism — and how to escape it.

Do you feel like you have to do The Most Possible Good™ ??

I think obsessing about being a good person can backfire. There’s a better way.

My latest:

www.vox.com/future-perfe...

When does trying to have a healthier baby become eugenics-y? New genetic testing offers us the chance to create superbabies. It can come with unintended consequences.

At what point does embryo selection become too eugenics-y?

New polygenic testing companies look at all your embryos & claim to predict each one's chance of cancer & depression, but also height, IQ, etc.

Before you try to create a superbaby, read this!

www.vox.com/future-perfe...

AI can write you a new Bible. But is it meaningful? ChatGPT just wrote a sacred text for Buddhists — and it exceeded expectations.

Can AI write sacred texts? @sigalsamuel.bsky.social with some incisive analysis 👇🏻

Can’t commit to vegetarianism but want animals to suffer less? You’ve got options. This doesn’t have to be all-or-nothing.

Can’t commit to vegetarianism or veganism but want animals to suffer less?

You’ve got options!

Here's my pragmatic advice in @vox.com:

www.vox.com/future-perfe...

How can you know if an AI is plotting against you? What chimp research can teach us about AI’s ability to scheme.

You may have heard examples of AI "scheming" against us — blackmailing, deceiving, etc. But do those represent the actual tendencies of the AI, or is the bad behavior showing up because researchers are strongly nudging that out of the AI?

We need to avoid groupthink here
www.vox.com/future-perfe...