Cory Doctorow challenges the AI doomer narrative in a new essay, arguing that worrying about superintelligent AI is a distraction from more immediate concerns. The author doesn't believe current statistical techniques will lead to true intelligence, but he's deeply worried about corporations using AI to replace workers and the economic collapse that could follow when the seven companies comprising 35% of the S&P 500 go bankrupt.

Speaking at the Bronfman Lecture in Montreal alongside Turing Prize winner Yoshua Bengio, Doctorow drew a parallel between AI doomerism and Pascal's Wager. He noted humanity has already spent $1.4 trillion on AI with nothing to show for it, and Sam Altman suggests spending another $2-3 trillion. Doctorow asks: when does it end? He argues the real danger isn't hypothetical superintelligence but existing corporate systems already colonizing our knowledge creation and state institutions.

While Doctorow and Bengio disagree on AI's future capabilities, they share concerns about concentrated corporate power. Bengio's Lawzero initiative aims to create AI as a "digital public good" that's open and auditable. Doctorow concludes the artificial lifeforms already endangering society aren't hypothetical—they're here now, embedded in the systems controlling our information and governance.