Faine Greenwood posts on Aella and AI industry connections
A Bluesky post about connections between a rationalist figure and the AI industry sparks debate over what counts as essential knowledge.
What to know
- Greenwood framed understanding Aella's connections to the AI and rationalist communities as both distressing and essential to comprehending the AI industry's current influence on the US economy.
- The linked article is paywalled and opens with an unconventional tone (Nelson Mandela quote), creating friction with commenters who want access but resist the framing.
- Commenters are divided: some dismiss the personal details as irrelevant to AI industry analysis, others want clarification on how Aella's role actually connects to AI development and policy.
The dispute Whether Aella's personal connections and community role are genuinely central to understanding AI industry dynamics or an unnecessarily sensationalized digression that doesn't warrant paywalled gatekeeping. · positions read across 17 posts and comments
Understanding this connection is essential context for the AI industry despite discomfort with the subject matter.
-
“This is a true cognitohazard that is also genuinely essential to understanding the AI industry”
Faine Greenwood · Bluesky ↗
Personal details and salacious content about AI figures distract from substantive analysis and shouldn't require paywalled access.
-
“i hate that i want to read the rest of it but i ain't paying”
hardin.bsky.social · Bluesky ↗
Aella deserves credit for rejecting effective accelerationism, even if her other ideas are mixed.
-
“hot take: we do have to give her credit for flatly rejecting the effective accelerationists”
gingerest.bsky.social · Bluesky ↗
Faine Greenwood Bluesky posterAella Subject of article
How it unfolded 3 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump postscomments
-
3
Commenters probe the rationalist-AI connection
Later comments ask for clarification on how Aella connects to the broader rationalist and AI communities, with some expressing frustration at paywalled access that prevents understanding the full argument.
“hot take: we do have to give her credit for flatly rejecting the effective accelerationists…”
— gingerest.bsky.social, Bluesky commenter · source -
...*sigh* Do your thing, @infinitescream.bsky.social.
2 more of the top 3 · 5 posts in this stretch
-
hot take: we do have to give her credit for flatly rejecting the effective accelerationists
-
lol took me a second to connect the dots on this one
-
-
2
Commenters balk at paywalled content and tone
Multiple commenters express frustration: one notes the article opens with a Nelson Mandela quote and refuses to read further; another rejects the email paywall requirement; another questions why personal details matter to understanding the AI industry.
“I was not ready for the linked blog post to open with a *Nelson Mandela quote* and no I did not read any further than that, that was quite enough…”
— djdynamic.ca, Bluesky commenter · source -
"all knowledge is worth having" really up against it these past years huh
2 more of the top 3 · 10 posts in this stretch
-
D
I was not ready for the linked blog post to open with a *Nelson Mandela quote* and no I did not read any further than that, that was quite enough
-
T
kind of ends on a cliffhanger there if you don't hand over your email, which, no.
-
-
1
Greenwood expresses ambivalence about the necessity
In response to comments, Greenwood states she wishes the necessity of understanding this topic wasn't true, but acknowledges that it is.
“I desperately wish this wasn't true, but it is…”
— Faine Greenwood -
F
This is a true cognitohazard that is also genuinely essential to understanding the AI industry - which is currently driving much of the US economy.
1 more of the top 2 · 2 posts in this stretch
-
I desperately wish this wasn’t true, but it is
-
-
background
Greenwood describes AI-industry figure as "cognitohazard" — Faine Greenwood posted on Bluesky that something related to the AI industry is a "true cognitohazard that is also genuinely essential to understanding the AI industry - which is currently driving much of the US economy." The post links to an article about Aella and rationalist community connections, requiring email signup to read fully.
What people are saying 8 voices from 1 site · best of 17 · verbatim
- How exactly does Aella's role in the rationalist community connect to major decisions or directions in the AI industry?
- Why frame personal details as essential knowledge rather than optional context?
- Sep 15
-
Like, it's pretty clear she's in that community, but how is this gangbang central to the whole thing? Were all the participants AI bros and fellow "rationalists"?
-
Okay, so while I await the now inevitable collapse of my psyche and devolution into a rambling vagrant/prophet of doom, could you further explain the Aella-rationalist connection? I do not have nor want a substack account so I only got the first half of the article.
-
Speaking of odd domino effects, I was reminded of the Fairchild chip plant on Native land and how (maybe) that A.I.M protest might lead to Taiwan getting nukes at some point.
-
R
"The internet interprets censorship as damage and routes around it" vs "damn i wish i could unsee that"
-
I bet at least one of these people has a Twilight Sparkle jar
-
I think, at this point, basically any SV tech person should be sent to a reeducation camp. Just send them all there, completely reprogram them, they are also not allowed to bang each other.
-
Walking around an aged care facility, now carrying this in my brain…
-
i hate that i want to read the rest of it but i ain't paying (also i am generally fascinated by aella, who has some interesting ideas entirely offset by some of the worst i've ever read)