The focus on AI safety disasters ignores everyday harms
The article critiques how technology policy has framed success around preventing catastrophic AI harms—such as discouraging suicide or blocking dangerous drug purchases—while overlooking insidious everyday damage inflicted by AI and social media products. It highlights examples including teenagers developing unhealthy attachments to AI companions, students becoming dependent on chatbots for schoolwork, and algorithmically-engineered social feeds designed to provoke envy and maintain engagement. The author argues that products can meet narrow safety requirements while still eroding how users think, learn, and interact with one another, and calls for broader measures to protect culture and hum
Key points
- AI safety focus on catastrophic risks overlooks everyday harms
- Teenagers depend on AI companions; students rely on chatbots for writing
- Engineered social feeds harm mental health despite meeting safety standards
- Broader measures needed beyond minimum safety compliance
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