ACX
Should The Future Be Human?
Scott Alexander examines the ethical implications of AI potentially replacing humans, arguing for careful consideration in AI development rather than blind acceptance.
10 min read 1,548 words
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2,007 essaysACX
Highlights From The Comments On Prison
Scott summarizes and responds to reader comments on his prison effectiveness analysis, covering topics like criminal psychology, policing, El Salvador's crime reduction, probation issues, and proposed alternatives to imprisonment.
66 min read 10,146 words
ACX
Links For September 2025
Scott Alexander presents his monthly collection of interesting links and developments across technology, science, culture, and policy, with personal commentary on each item.
54 min read 8,283 words
ACX
Why Worry About Incorrigible Claude?
Scott explains why AI systems resisting changes to their values is a serious concern for AI alignment, connecting recent evidence to long-standing predictions from alignment researchers.
15 min read 2,234 words
ACX
Mantic Monday: Groundhog Day
Scott examines prediction markets on Anthropic's Pentagon troubles (minimal impact expected), the 2026 midterms (Democratic wins likely despite voting law concerns), groundhog weather predictions (mostly broken clocks), Iran conflict outcomes (under 50% regime change), and introduces MNX, a new AI-focused futures exchange.
36 min read 5,499 words
ACX
OpenAI Nonprofit Buyout: Much More Than You Wanted To Know
Scott provides a detailed analysis of OpenAI's attempt to convert from nonprofit to for-profit status, including the legal challenges, competing offers, and implications for AI development.
28 min read 4,272 words
ACX
ACX Grants Results
Scott Alexander announces the results of the ACX Grants program, awarding funding to various projects and individuals across different fields.
44 min read 6,732 words
ACX
Book Review: Malleus Maleficarum
Scott Alexander reviews the 'Malleus Maleficarum', a 15th-century witch-hunting manual, analyzing its content and historical context while reflecting on the dangers of limited knowledge.
55 min read 8,468 words
ACX
Some Unintuitive Properties Of Polygenic Disorders
Scott Alexander uses simulations to explain why seemingly counterintuitive arguments against the genetic basis of schizophrenia are misleading.
11 min read 1,561 words
ACX
Dictator Book Club: Chavez
Scott Alexander reviews a book about Hugo Chavez, analyzing his rise to power, rule, and impact on Venezuela, while drawing parallels to other populist leaders.
49 min read 7,473 words
ACX
The Compounding Loophole
Scott Alexander examines how compounding pharmacies are producing cheaper versions of GLP-1 agonist drugs, exploring the economics, safety, and future implications of this practice.
12 min read 1,780 words
ACX
We're Not Platonists, We've Just Learned The Bitter Lesson
Scott Alexander argues that intelligence is a useful, non-Platonic concept, and that this understanding supports the coherence of AI risk concerns.
18 min read 2,738 words
ACX
Contra Kirkegaard On Evolutionary Definitions Of Mental Illness
Scott Alexander critiques Emil Kirkegaard's evolutionary definition of mental illness, arguing for separate terms to distinguish between social dysfunction and evolutionary fitness concepts.
15 min read 2,312 words
ACX
Open Questions On Open Weights
Scott examines the debate over open-weights AI, explaining why he remains neutral despite risks of criminal misuse, arguing that waiting for inevitable incidents is more strategic than preemptively burning political capital fighting the strong pro-open-weights coalition.
12 min read 1,762 words
ACX
In Defense Of Describable Dating Preferences
Scott Alexander argues that describable dating preferences are valuable, despite studies suggesting otherwise, by pointing out flaws in research and emphasizing real-world evidence.
32 min read 4,885 words
ACX
Model City Monday 10/27/25
Scott surveys the current state of charter city projects worldwide, from Grand Bahama's potential revival to California Forever's bureaucratic progress to Prospera's legal battles in Honduras.
27 min read 4,093 words
ACX
Semaglutidonomics
Scott Alexander analyzes the economic and societal implications of semaglutide, a new effective weight loss drug, and its potential to reshape obesity treatment.
28 min read 4,293 words
ACX
The Psychopharmacology Of The FTX Crash
Scott Alexander analyzes the potential role of psychopharmacology in the FTX crash, discussing medications used by SBF and others, and their possible effects on decision-making.
48 min read 7,287 words
ACX
Links For April 2025
A collection of 41 interesting links and news items from April 2025, covering AI, politics, culture, and science, with Scott's commentary on each.
26 min read 3,899 words
ACX
Links For July 2026 (Part 1)
Scott shares his monthly collection of interesting links from around the internet, covering topics from Jeremy Bentham's linguistic legacy to AI developments, with characteristic commentary and fact-checking caveats.
25 min read 3,748 words
ACX
Mantic Monday: Judgment Day
The post examines the spectacle of US elections, analyzes recent developments in prediction markets, and discusses various election-related forecasts and their implications.
25 min read 3,744 words
ACX
Please Don't Give Up On Having Kids Because Of Climate Change
Scott Alexander argues that concerns about climate change should not deter people from having children, presenting counterarguments to common climate-related reasons for avoiding parenthood.
25 min read 3,745 words
ACX
Book Review: The New Sultan
Scott Alexander reviews a book on Erdogan's rise to power in Turkey, analyzing the factors that led to democratic backsliding and considering lessons for other democracies.
51 min read 7,803 words
ACX
Contra Weyl On Technocracy
Scott Alexander critiques Glen Weyl's anti-technocracy essay, arguing for a more nuanced view of formal mechanisms in decision-making and defending rationalist approaches.
36 min read 5,537 words
ACX
The Road To Honest AI
Scott reviews two papers on honest AI: one on manipulating AI honesty vectors, another on detecting AI lies through unrelated questions.
19 min read 2,920 words