Now is the Era of Culture (文話) Humanity's Golden Time Against Uncontrollable Technology

A catastrophic warning about loss of control from an Anthropic researcher has surfaced. According to foreign media outlets including the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Jacob Cockson, an AI training researcher at Anthropic, submitted his resignation with a warning that "the most extreme scenario is likely to become reality" and "at this rate, the situation could already spiral out of control by the end of next year."

He made it clear that he does not want to participate in the development of 'Self-Improvement' AI, which enhances its own performance without human intervention. With fellow key researchers also expressing agreement while mentioning extinction probability, this incident cannot be taken lightly as merely one researcher's warning. We must accept it as a major civilizational crisis alert that we are facing.

The credibility of this warning is demonstrated by recent technological achievements in the field. A prime example is OpenAI's deployment of 10,000 AI agents to derive a solution to the 'Navier-Stokes Equation'—one of the world's seven greatest mathematical challenges—in just 88 hours. This achievement, which broke through a problem that had stumped human mathematicians for 90 years in an instant, starkly reveals the dual nature of the massive inflection point that AI technology has reached.

The overwhelming reasoning ability to solve mathematical problems at once and AI's power to hypothesize on its own are undoubtedly an opportunity for humanity's leap forward. Beyond fluid dynamics analysis, powerful means have been established to solve humanity's long-standing challenges: designing treatments for intractable diseases, discovering new materials to overcome climate change, and addressing the shortage of labor in a hyper-aging society. The productivity revolution that AI will bring has the potential to fundamentally transform social welfare and quality of life across society.

The problem is that social consensus and institutions have not at all kept pace with the runaway speed of technology. As demonstrated by the controversy over prior research learning that emerged following the announcement of the Navier-Stokes solution, big tech companies are caught in a prisoner's dilemma—"if I stop, competitors or rival nations will seize the initiative"—and are focused on a speed race. Meanwhile, 'Alignment' research for adapting technology to human values and autonomous AI control research are routinely pushed to the sidelines. This is why the warning that technology could transform from a tool serving humanity into an uncontrollable agent carries such weight.

We must establish a new philosophical landmark in our approach to technology. First, a shift from 'speed-based technology' to 'direction-based technology.' Rather than being consumed by technological acceleration, ethical reconnaissance must operate first—reflection on whether the technology undermines human dignity.

Second, recovery of agency in technological sovereignty. AI has true value only when it serves as an 'instrumental means' for expanding humanity's life. We must be vigilant about the moment when technology itself becomes the purpose and ensure that humans remain the controlling subject.

Third, a sense of civilizational responsibility toward solidarity and coexistence. We must escape the fear of competition and establish global ethical standards that prioritize the survival and well-being of all humanity.

"Controllable technology becomes a lantern illuminating darkness, but technology that loses control becomes a wildfire that burns down civilization itself." The ten-year timeline may be humanity's final golden time. As AI evolves toward superintelligence, the essence we must ultimately preserve is not the computational power of technology, but humanity's unique ethical reflection and sense of social responsibility.