I don't think Randall Munroe would argue others are dumber than he is, only that he's seeing a scenario that is not (as frequently) reflected in fiction and thought experiments as the classic AI gains sentience, escapes containment and takes over scenario. I'd point to Linus' Law, Given enough eyes, all bugs are shallow. (Wikipedia notes the law's validity is confirmed empirically, but refuted in analysis.) This applies to more than software. Right now, election enthusiasts in the US are combing election law and procedure for ways the November election can be thrown, and ways to counter that scenario quickly. I was thinking about the misprogramming scenario of AI escape. This implies hyperintelligent AI is dangerous even when everyone using it is benign and has non-adversarial intentions. Essentially an AI will need to be coded with an ethics system such as that of a general (or high-ranking soldier in the US) who deliberates on operational action and its consequences, whether the operation is legal, or would cause undue harm in its execution. Right now, AI in its current development is... whimsical, at best. That is to say, it ignores rules the way it hallucinates facts. And AI can be manipulated to ignore rules through adversarial input, so AI is not ready to operate dangerous machinery.

Statement from Autistici/Inventati [ENGLISH VERSION] Today we were made aware that the US Government has targeted a small, volunteer-run, technology collective from Italy with disproportionate sanctions as anyone can read in the Treasury Department Statement, the State Department Statement and the related Executive Order. We deny all allegations included in the statements, while we strongly affirm our dedication to providing a platform of tools for digital self-defense, addressing the need of free communication for activists and other individuals, groups and associations. We will not back down, we will keep doing what we have been doing all these years and we will do whatever is in our possibility to counter the false allegations made by a politically desperate administration with the sole intention of swaying people and media attention away from their own violence and warmongering. Antifascism and anticapitalism are not terrorism. Protesting is not terrorism. And everyone has the right to speak out and to struggle for humanity. Collettivo Autistici / Inventati — “Socializzare saperi senza fondare poteri” Stay human posted on August 26 2026 https://archive.is/GBobG

It's a completely different dynamic from commercial services. It needs enough users to continue developing the software, to operate servers, and to create content on the platform. There is more than enough users on the platform to ensure that it can operate indefinitely at this point. Meanwhile, most people on Mastodon, just as the case is with Lemmy, are on it because they want an open source platform. So, they're not going to jump on another proprietary garbage platform BlueSky or W. And if a better open source platform comes along that's a win for everyone. And I'd argue that chasing growth for the sake of growth can itself be harmful. When you have a slow trickle of new users then they adapt to the existing culture of the platform. But if you have a huge influx of people all at once they can erase the existing communities in the process.

I can't wait to buy black market ram from China. Lol