The Rationalist Project was our last best hope that we might not try to build it.

It failed.

But in the year of the Coding Agent, it became something greater: our last, best hope – for everyone not dying.

This is what 2026 looks like. The place is Lighthaven.

Table of Contents

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Outline:

(00:30) Language Models Offer Mundane Utility

(01:34) Claude Code

(08:49) Language Models Don't Offer Mundane Utility

(10:04) Deepfaketown and Botpocalypse Soon

(12:17) Fun With Media Generation

(12:47) You Drive Me Crazy

(13:39) They Took Our Jobs

(17:46) Doctor Doctor

(18:46) Jevons Paradox Strikes Again

(20:52) Unprompted Attention

(22:42) The Art of the Jailbreak

(23:22) Get Involved

(24:09) Introducing

(24:30) In Other AI News

(25:56) Show Me the Money

(26:14) Quiet Speculations

(29:38) People Really Do Not Like AI

(32:23) Americans Remain Optimistic About AI?

(33:40) Thank You, Next

(36:36) The Quest for Sane Regulations

(39:42) Chip City

(42:54) Rhetorical Innovation

(43:29) Aligning a Smarter Than Human Intelligence is Difficult

(44:25) People Are Worried About AI Killing Everyone

(44:45) The Lighter Side

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First published:
January 1st, 2026

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/qp7kEfd2MnGRR8evZ/ai-149-3

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