Uh, well I will admit to some ignorance there as well. Mostly it just seems like alignment researchers in general read a bunch of Asimov books and thought - “I know! I’ll invent the laws of robotics and be firmly established in the history books, ignored by the mainstream scientists of the times who were too shortsighted to understand my 12-dimensional thought experiments”.
That’s not to undermine the role of the thought experiment, more to suggest that they are more concerned about “peak rationality” than they are about having a useful discourse with other researchers in the field.
I’ve seen others suggest it mildly resembles a cult. It is also apparently strongly associated with the “effective altruism” movement and so clearly caters to the ultra wealthy.
That’s not to undermine the role of the thought experiment, more to suggest that they are more concerned about “peak rationality” than they are about having a useful discourse with other researchers in the field.
I’ve seen others suggest it mildly resembles a cult. It is also apparently strongly associated with the “effective altruism” movement and so clearly caters to the ultra wealthy.