Scott Alexander
Writer, Astral Codex Ten; co-author of AI 2027
Scott Alexander is the pen name of a psychiatrist who writes Astral Codex Ten, the successor to Slate Star Codex, on psychiatry, forecasting, rationality and AI. He co-wrote the 2025 AI 2027 scenario with the AI Futures Project.
Key arguments & positions
- Writes long-form essays on psychiatry, rationality, forecasting and AI, often steelmanning several sides of a debate before giving his own estimate.
- Treats advanced AI as a serious risk worth planning for, while taking fast-progress and skeptical arguments seriously in public.
Accomplishments
- Pen name of a practicing psychiatrist; writes Astral Codex Ten, the successor to his blog Slate Star Codex.
- Co-author, with Daniel Kokotajlo and others at the AI Futures Project, of the 2025 scenario AI 2027.
Papers & key writings
Links
In the library
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Recommended next
Hand-picked from the hub based on what Scott Alexander covers.
AI 2027
A detailed scenario for how AI might develop through 2027, written by former OpenAI researcher Daniel Kokotajlo and colleagues, with the reasoning and uncertainties spelled out. Free to read in full.
Why this: Covers AI risk and forecasting too
AI as Normal Technology
Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor's influential essay arguing AI is best understood as a normal technology — adopted slowly, shaped by institutions — rather than an unstoppable superintelligence.
Why this: Also about AI risk
Gradual Disempowerment
Research project and paper examining how incremental automation of economic, cultural, and political systems could erode human influence even without a sudden AI takeover.
Why this: Also about AI risk
Will AI really turn us into paperclips?
Engelsberg Ideas essay arguing that thought experiments such as Nick Bostrom's “paperclip maximiser” say less about artificial intelligence than about human intuitions and fears.
Why this: Also about AI risk