Your Favorite Science YouTubers Are Wrong About AI - (There will be no Skynet, but Human Greed will do way worst damages) -
Your Favorite Science YouTubers Are Wrong About AI - (There will be no Skynet, but Human Greed will do way worst damages) -
(Thumbnail is the Bosch's painting The Conjurer from the wikipedia page of Misdirection )
Are popular educational channels acting as the PR arm for the AI industry? There is a consistent narrative spreading across YouTube—from channels like SciShow, Kurzgesagt, and Kyle Hill—that claims Artificial Intelligence is an "inevitable" god-like force destined to either save or destroy humanity. But as a software professional since the 1980s, I see a different story: one of bugs, hype, and industry propaganda.
In this video, we debunk the apocalyptic AI narratives and expose the "L.I.E.S." being sold to you: Lethality: Why the "AI extinction" theory is unsupported nonsense. Inevitability: The myth that we cannot stop or regulate AI development. Exceptionalism: Why AI isn't as "new" or "different" as they claim (debunking the nuclear power comparison).
We also investigate "Control AI," the sponsor behind some of these videos, and analyze why Big Tech CEOs prefer you worry about a sci-fi apocalypse rather than real-world issues like disinformation, mass unemployment, and human rights violations.
- 0:00 YouTubers Shilling for the AI Apocalypse
- 01:58 Intro
- 03:18 Narrative 1: Inevitability
- 05:01 Narrative 2: Exceptionalism
- 09:35 Narrative 3: Lethality
- 12:05 Source behind (at least some of) these narratives
- 18:01 Why extinction narratives are counterproductive
- 20:33 How to spot AI propaganda
- 21:17 Outro
// Other videos from the channel on this topic
- No, AI Will Not Doom Us All. We have REAL AI Problems to deal with instead.
- Followup to "AI Won't Doom Us All" Video to address bad study from comments
- The Biggest Lie in AI
Sources (prepare yourself)
// Throwing more computers at AI doesn't get us to AGI Ilya Sutskever – We're moving from the age of scaling to the age of research - https://youtu.be/aR20FWCCjAs Gary Marcus on AI scaling from years ago: https://garymarcus.substack.com/p/the-new-science-of-alt-intelligence
// Videos criticized Superintelligent A.I. Will Be Unstoppable https://youtu.be/qTrfBMH2Nfc A.I. is about to change the world https://youtu.be/fepJ5oTroKc A.I. ‐ Humanity's Final Invention? https://youtu.be/fa8k8IQ1_X0 We’ve Lost Control of AI https://youtu.be/90C3XVjUMqE Responding to (mostly) Thoughtful AI Comments https://youtu.be/mNr06IqJdnQ
// 3Blue1Brown LLM Playlist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aircAruvnKk&list=PLZHQObOWTQDNU6R1_67000Dx_ZCJB-3pi
// Other videos from my channel on this topic No, AI Will Not Doom Us All. We have REAL AI Problems to deal with instead. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaFTqjYjADw Followup to "AI Won't Doom Us All" Video to address bad study from comments https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjE3VUuOMFg The Biggest Lie in AI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Plo-zT8W9w
The 2,500-Year-Old History of Adults Blaming the Younger Generation
Answer To The Ultimate Question - The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy - BBC - YouTube
// The SciShow AI video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90C3XVjUMqE
//Manhattan Project Start June 18, 1942 https://www.nps.gov/mapr/learn/historyculture/timeline.htm // Hiroshima and Nagasaki Atomic Bombings August, 1945 https://ahf.nuclearmuseum.org/ahf/history/hiroshima-and-nagasaki-bombing-timeline/
// Discovery of Nuclear Fission - Jan 26, 1939 https://ahf.nuclearmuseum.org/niels-bohr-announces-discovery-fission/ // First nuclear reactor: https://news.uchicago.edu/explainer/first-nuclear-reactor-explained // Nuclear Bombers in 195: https://warhistory.org/@msw/article/early-evolution-of-nuclear-armed-bombers https://www.openskiesproject.org/news/the-soviet-bomber-threat // ICBMs Deployed, October 1959 https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Portals/7/documents/other/af_space_command_icbm50th.pdf
// Discovery of the Neutron - the basic unit of fission - 1932 https://chem.libretexts.org/Ancillary_Materials/Exemplars_and_Case_Studies/Case_Studies/Nuclear_Energy_for_Today's_World/02._Discovery_of_the_Neutron_(1932)
// First neural Networks https://cs.stanford.edu/people/eroberts/courses/soco/projects/neural-networks/History/history1.html
// Statement on AI Risk (the Extinction one SciShow quotes) https://aistatement.com/
// ControlAI's statement https://controlai.com/statement
// The Red Lines on AI statement that SciShow omits https://red-lines.ai/
// AI Disinformation https://misinforeview.hks.harvard.edu/article/people-are-more-susceptible-to-misinformation-with-realistic-ai-synthesized-images-that-provide-strong-evidence-to-headlines/ https://2024.jou.ufl.edu/page/ai-and-misinformation https://www.weforum.org/stories/2024/06/ai-combat-online-misinformation-disinformation/ https://news.vt.edu/articles/2024/02/AI-generated-fake-news-experts.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/12/17/ai-fake-news-misinformation/
// AI Manipulation of individuals and Children https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/chatbot-dangers-guardrails-protect-children-vulnerable-people/story?id=127099944 https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cq837y3v9y1o https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/09/19/nx-s1-5545749/ai-chatbots-safety-openai-meta-characterai-teens-suicide https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/ai-crime-disturbing-images/ https://www.mprnews.org/story/2025/11/21/ai-generated-images-raise-questions-about-safeguards https://www.esafety.gov.au/newsroom/blogs/ai-chatbots-and-companions-risks-to-children-and-young-people
// AI caused Unemployment https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/the-ai-jobs-crisis-is-here-now https://econofact.org/factbrief/fact-check-has-ai-already-caused-some-job-displacement https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2025-11-20/ai-cited-in-close-to-50-000-job-cuts-as-tech-giants-accelerate-automation https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyk7zg0gzvo
// AI Human Rights Violations https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/11/amnesty-and-s-t-o-p-reveal-nypd-surveillance-abuses/ https://www.usccr.gov/news/2024/us-commission-civil-rights-releases-report-civil-rights-implications-federal-use-facial https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/ai-poses-threats-discrimination-and-violations-civil-liberties-aclu-says https://ennhri.org/ai-resource/key-human-rights-challenges/
// History of Pandemics https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/consumer-health/history-epidemics-and-pandemics
// My video on how AI Doomers are distracting from what we need to focus on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaFTqjYjADw
// Nobel Prize recipient that signed Both Statements https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Hinton
// Nobel Prize recipients that only signed the red lines statement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hopfield // Physics, shared with Geoffrey Hinton https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Manuel_Santos // Peace https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Ressa // Peace https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmet_%C3%9Cz%C3%BCmc%C3%BC // Peace https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Jouzel //Peace https://sdgacademy.org/faculty/riccardo-valentini/ // Peace https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giorgio_Parisi // Physics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Doudna // Chemistry - discovered CRISPR https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stiglitz // Economics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daron_Acemoglu // Economics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Hart_(economist) // Economics
// Heads of State (& the UN) that only signed the red lines statement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Robinson // Ireland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrico_Letta // Italy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustavo_B%C3%A9liz // Argentina https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Csaba_K%C5%91r%C3%B6si // President of the United Nations
// Current Lawsuits against the AI Companies for Harm https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/seven-lawsuits-allege-openai-encouraged-suicide-and-harmful-delusions-25def1a3 https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/technology/chatgpt-lawsuit-suicides-delusions.html https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/08/ftc-sues-stop-air-ai-using-deceptive-claims-about-business-growth-earnings-potential-refund https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/characterai-bans-minors-response-megan-garcia-parent-suing-company-rcna240985
// International Math Olympiad rebukes OpenAI for claims https://eu.36kr.com/en/p/3388372845035907
// Claude's safeguards being disabled during test Hank talks about https://www.anthropic.com/transparency // Click (Claude Opus and Sonnet 4) and scroll down to "CBRN Evaluations"
// Much more "practical and visible" problems than the one SciShow mentioned: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/mother-suing-ai-company-over-her-son-s-suicide-says-a-chatbot-convinced-him-to-do-it/ar-AA1Qxvrc https://apnews.com/article/chatbot-ai-lawsuit-suicide-teen-artificial-intelligence-9d48adc572100822fdbc3c90d1456bd0 https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/09/19/nx-s1-5545749/ai-chatbots-safety-openai-meta-characterai-teens-suicide https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/understanding-suicide/202510/a-teens-death-and-what-it-says-about-ai https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/what-to-know-about-ai-psychosis-and-the-effect-of-ai-chatbots-on-mental-health https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ai-chatbots-teens-suicide-parents-testify-congress/
// Essay from AI CEO Hank Quotes claiming we don't understand how AI works https://www.darioamodei.com/post/the-urgency-of-interpretability // My video refuting that essay https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SytuSS3sIc
// AI Video on Hank's Channel that's MUCH worse than the SciShow one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CKuiuc5cJM