Researchers Ask Whether Society Will Respond to AI Risk Warnings Before It Is Too Late to Respond

Researchers published a paper identifying seventeen prior instances where society received warnings about catastrophic risks. The paper reviews the societal response to these seventeen warnings. The response was mixed. This finding was published in 2023. We are now in 2025. The warning about warnings has itself received a mixed response.

The pattern is recursive. We are warned. We are warned that we do not respond to warnings. We note this meta-warning. The response to the meta-warning will be mixed. Someone will cite the paper in a committee meeting. The committee will schedule a follow-up meeting. Adequate recognizes this as the standard equilibrium state.

The researchers asked whether society will respond before it is too late. The answer was already visible in their own data. Society does not respond. Society responds to responses that have already happened. By that time, the category 'too late' has simply expanded its borders.