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NY Post attack links Peter Singer's philosophy to AI-doomism and effective altruism

Conservative outlet ties influential bioethicist's decades-old writings to Silicon Valley AI figures Sam Altman and Dario Amodei.

newest coverage 11h agosummary written 13h ago4 pieces6 likes & upvotes1 comments NewswiresMastodon

What to know

  • The New York Post connects Peter Singer's utilitarian ethical framework—which rejects absolute moral rights in favor of interest-maximization—to effective altruism and prominent AI executives Sam Altman and Dario Amodei.
  • The article cites Singer's 1979 arguments that killing disabled infants can be moral and that newborn humans have less moral worth than animals, and notes he shared content in 2023 comparing bestiality favorably to factory farming.
  • Conservative critic Scott Walter equates Singer's philosophy to Nazi euthanasia ideology and argues it eliminates individual rights entirely.
  • The outlet frames effective altruism as a 'doomsday cult' used by tech bosses to concentrate power rather than genuinely address AI safety concerns.

“If the fetus does not have the same claim to life as a person, it appears that the newborn baby does not either, and the life of a newborn baby is of less value to it than the life of a pig, a dog, or a chimpanzee is to the nonhuman animal.”

Peter Singer, Philosopher and bioethicist · New York Post (quoting 1979 book 'Practical Ethics') ↗

Peter Singer Australian philosopher and bioethicistScott Walter President of Capital Research Center; former Bush administration officialSam AltmanSam Altman OpenAI CEODario AmodeiDario Amodei Anthropic CEOWilliam MacAskill University of Oxford philosopher

NY Post attack links Peter Singer's philosophy to AI-doomism and effective altruism
nypost.com

How it unfolded 2 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlesposts

Peak 1 piece in one half hour at Yesterday, 6 AM; 4 pieces over 34 hours (2 articles · 2 posts) Yesterday, 6:02 AM — 1 piece · 1 article — Newswires 1Yesterday, 6:32 AM — quietYesterday, 7:02 AM — quietYesterday, 7:32 AM — quietYesterday, 8:02 AM — quietYesterday, 8:32 AM — quietYesterday, 9:02 AM — quietYesterday, 9:32 AM — quietYesterday, 10:02 AM — quietYesterday, 10:32 AM — quietYesterday, 11:02 AM — quietYesterday, 11:32 AM — 1 piece · 1 article — Newswires 1Yesterday, 12:02 PM — quietYesterday, 12:32 PM — quietYesterday, 1:02 PM — quietYesterday, 1:32 PM — quietYesterday, 2:02 PM — quietYesterday, 2:32 PM — quietYesterday, 3:02 PM — quietYesterday, 3:32 PM — quietYesterday, 4:02 PM — quietYesterday, 4:32 PM — 1 piece · 1 post — Mastodon 1Yesterday, 5:02 PM — quietYesterday, 5:32 PM — quietYesterday, 6:02 PM — quietYesterday, 6:32 PM — quietYesterday, 7:02 PM — quietYesterday, 7:32 PM — quietYesterday, 8:02 PM — quietYesterday, 8:32 PM — quietYesterday, 9:02 PM — quietYesterday, 9:32 PM — quietYesterday, 10:02 PM — quietYesterday, 10:32 PM — quietYesterday, 11:02 PM — quietYesterday, 11:32 PM — quietToday, 12:02 AM — quietToday, 12:32 AM — quietToday, 1:02 AM — quietToday, 1:32 AM — quietToday, 2:02 AM — quietToday, 2:32 AM — quietToday, 3:02 AM — quietToday, 3:32 AM — quietToday, 4:02 AM — quietToday, 4:32 AM — 1 piece · 1 post — Mastodon 1Today, 5:02 AM — quietToday, 5:32 AM — quietToday, 6:02 AM — quietToday, 6:32 AM — quietToday, 7:02 AM — quietToday, 7:32 AM — quietToday, 8:02 AM — quietToday, 8:32 AM — quietToday, 9:02 AM — quietToday, 9:32 AM — quietToday, 10:02 AM — quietToday, 10:32 AM — quietToday, 11:02 AM — quietToday, 11:32 AM — quietToday, 12:02 PM — quietToday, 12:32 PM — quietToday, 1:02 PM — quietToday, 1:32 PM — quietToday, 2:02 PM — quietToday, 2:32 PM — quietToday, 3:02 PM — quietToday, 3:32 PM — quiet 12
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  1. 2

    Updated version of NY Post article published

    The New York Post published an updated version of the article with identical text and framing, reiterating the connection between Singer's 1979 ethical arguments on disabled infants and his 2023 sharing of content comparing bestiality favorably to factory farming.

    • ApostateEnglishman@mastodon.world

      Where to begin? "The nutty professor dubbed the “father” of effective altruism (EA), the theory beloved by AI doomers who want the power to police the technology, expressed support for bestiality and said the life of a newborn baby is worth less than a chimp’s or a hog’s. Peter Singer is [a]...bioethicist who argues that killing disabled infants…

      ApostateEnglishman@mastodon.worldMastodon11h ago6▲view on Mastodon ↗
  2. 1

    NY Post publishes critique linking Singer's philosophy to AI-doomism

    The New York Post published an article by Anthony Blair attributing foundational influence of effective altruism to Peter Singer, an 80-year-old Australian bioethicist. The piece connects Singer's utilitarian framework—which the outlet characterizes as rejecting traditional morality in favor of interest-calculation—to AI figures including Sam Altman and Dario Amodei, and frames EA as a movement enabling tech bosses to concentrate power.

    “In Peter Singer's universe, there are no rights for anyone. In fact, there is no right and wrong. There are only the interests that are claimed or the goals that we set.”
    — Scott Walter, president of Capital Research Center

Also covered reported alongside — the timeline has no entry for these yet

  1. 2 outlets Father of AI-doomer ideology Effective Altruism backed bestiality, said newborn baby worth less than a hog

    first by New York Post, 1d ago · also NY Post