Scott Alexander provides updates and speculations on various aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic, including case estimates, strategies, medical issues, and societal responses. Longer summary

This blog post provides updates and speculations on various aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic. It covers topics such as estimating the true number of cases, the lack of a clear endgame strategy, the effectiveness of 'flattening the curve', differentiating COVID-19 from flu symptoms, the use of anti-inflammatory drugs, ventilator shortages, disease seasonality, the need for better data, and the Bay Area's response to the crisis. The post also includes short links to other coronavirus-related news and observations. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander criticizes Ted Chiang's article that compares AI risk to capitalism, arguing that the analogy is flawed and the reasoning behind it is unsound. Longer summary

Scott Alexander critiques Ted Chiang's article comparing AI risk to capitalism, arguing that the comparison is flawed and the reasoning unsound. He points out that AI risk concerns originated from academics, not just Silicon Valley, and that drawing analogies between scientific concepts and social phenomena doesn't disprove the original concept. Scott also criticizes Chiang's use of psychological projection to explain AI fears, noting the dangers of amateur psychoanalysis. He concludes by emphasizing that this approach to risk assessment is inappropriate for potentially catastrophic issues. Shorter summary