Philosophies & Movements
Safetyism
A critical label for putting the avoidance of harm or risk above other values — used by critics of caution-first approaches to argue that they cost freedom, progress or resilience. In AI debates it is aimed at people who favor slowing or tightly restricting development; those people generally reject the label.
Origin
Popularized by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt in “The Coddling of the American Mind” (2018), about campus culture. AI accelerationists and techno-optimists, including Marc Andreessen’s 2023 “Techno-Optimist Manifesto,” later applied the idea to AI safety.