Palantir CTO Shyam Sankar has ‘AI theory’ for researchers taking up smoking

 Palantir CTO Shyam Sankar claims some AI researchers in Silicon Valley are taking up smoking to show how strongly they believe AI will cure cancer. Speaking in a US TV interview, he said many in the industry have filled a “god-shaped hole” with the “machine God of AGI,” and blamed effective altruism for fuelling AI doomsday fears. Palantir CTO Shyam Sankar claims some AI researchers in Silicon Valley are taking up smoking to show how strongly they believe AI will cure cancer. Speaking in a US TV interview, he said many in the industry have filled a “god-shaped hole” with the “machine God of AGI,” and blamed effective altruism for fuelling AI doomsday fears.