I’ve read so many novels and scenarios including “Lucifer’s Hammer” (great book!) while knowing there will always be a new scenario in the offing. “Alas, Babylon” was the first I read as a kid. It made an impression.
If something happens in a true disaster your real resources will be your health and inner resilience. Stockpile those.
When AI becomes dominant, we will all be hooked to machines, like in the matrix, and we don’t need to prep for it at all.
I think the problem right now isn’t companies–it’s China.
I’m not sure what you mean by this. The number of unique game sequences in chess surpasses the number of atoms in the observable universe. And AI has played many winning game sequences and strategic lines that no human had ever played before. In the current era of chess, human players have adopted some of these strategic lines to enhance their level of play.
I know that’s what those in power want us to believe. We gotta win, beat China. Great, so we get to be responsible for world destruction instead of someone else. I feel so much better. 
Our son’s friends have often wondered if we are preppers…None of the following was put into place in case of armageddon. Instead, it’s just what H likes to do \.
We have two full sized standup freezers. Hubby goes deep sea fishing at least once a year. One entire freezer is completely full of steaked/fillet seal-a-mealed fish. The other has some of my sourdough, veggies, other meat..basically stuff other than fish, bought on sale. House is on an auto cutover generator because power outages of up to 5 days have happened in this area. Hubby has the necessary ‘equipment’ to stop a bear in its tracks because he used to camp in the outback of Alaska. And if it can stop a bear it can stop looters. He’s also successfully hunted deer with bow and arrow. He’s just a renaissance man at heart.
I tend to keep a full pantry so enough dry goods to keep us going for a while and we have a garden area.
We also have just about every tool needed to fix, make or jury rig stuff.
Due to the cost of electricity and propane we put in a whole house circulating fireplace when we remodeled many years ago. Main heat source is wood - which we get for free from the local companies that are now, finally, taking down trees and limbs that endanger the power grid. Currently we have enough wood to keep us warm for at least 3-4 years. And, there’s a log splitter if we need more.
Also, due to the cost of city water there’s a capture system in place which has allowed us to irrigate the landscaping for most months of the year. If needed this water could be filtered and boiled to make it potable.
Keeping both and ICE gasoline and diesel vehicle for various reasons. If the grid goes down, the Tesla will be a brick.
There is wine and whisky at the ready. House is big enough to put up the kids and their families.
So, I guess all in all we’d be okay for a while
Exactly, but those sequences are all there on the board for anyone or anything to see. Just because no human has played them doesn’t mean it’s new information. It’s very good at doing something we already know how to do, but chess is a finite, mathematically mapped game. After opening, unprecedented sequences are played so frequently by humans at the highest level that no one even tracks them.
I’ve heard of it happening but never run into that. Got an example?
Ask yourself this question: What do I think I can do about this?
If anything, do that, and then stop worrying.
I can do nothing about any scientific or technological advancement, nor can I protect anyone else, so I continue to read good books, nap on my porch swing, feed the chipmunks, and enjoy artic-cold martinis.
Our son OTOH is on the military AI cyber front line providing direct foundational capabilities that advance our national security. I leave the AI problem to him. You should, too.
Here’s an example from a previous thread.
His plan is to keep a supply of things like canned goods, peanut butter, and bottled water that we can eat without preparing. It’s not long term prep per type foods so we will need to occasionally eat and replace before things expire. He is giving some thought to ways we could cook without electricity besides the fireplace. Plus toilet paper, of course.
Wow, you guys are prepared. End of the world, I’m coming over to your house!
I think that’s the problem. I know we aren’t really prepared for anything, and even starting to get prepared feels overwhelming. We’re fortunate to live in an area with non extreme weather and near a lot of water, but that’s about it.
I think the stress is having a concern, but not doing anything about it except for sitting on the couch and drinking a cup of coffee.
Sometimes sitting on the couch & drinking a cup of coffee is the best way to deal with situations that we realistically cannot control.
Says kelsmom, a certified control freak.
I will also be in @momofboiler1 wine cellar. I will bring snacks 
I don’t believe in the “sky is falling” theories. We went through that with YUK 2 or whatever it was called. Trust me, I was up all night then saw the computers just working. Lol.
I am a medical advisor for an AI medical company that is international. Guard rails are important. I lecture and also work at the back end with product design teams and engineers. I am not an expert per se but have a clue. The problem is this administration (ok, let’s not get to political here. Not my intention). They are not taking this seriously. It’s really not that hard. We talk about using this in hospitals with governance and security and safety first. First and foremost. You can build fast AND have security. If fact that is how you build responsibily. The fastest doesn’t win in AI.
In fact, they actually usually lose.
Guessing you mean Y2K? We didn’t pay much attention to that, in fact, we took the kids to Disneyworld that night. It was so crowded, we could barely walk, so I guess there were a lot of other people that didn’t take it seriously either. Plenty of fireworks, and the lights stayed on!
Everyone in tech knew Y2K was a bug fart because the SEC had required evidence of compliance in the industries that would matter if impacted a full two years before the event. I was a sys admin supporting a trading floor at the time, and I quit my job in early December because I refused to waste NYE sitting in a data center waiting for nothing to happen. Meh.
AI has bigger ramifications but more so from the national security and financial market perspectives than whatever happens to the labor market. We have not reached AGI or the Singularity yet, and there are still significant barriers to those achievements, though AI doesn’t have to achieve sentience or autonomy to be dangerous in clumsy or nefarious hands. But we’re already there.
AI is highly unlikely to kill us in the near future, if ever, but Henny Penny headlines sell and a level of global angst benefits the frontier AI labs and big players. Let’s all just chill and wait for the nonsense to shake out. 
I can give you an example almost any day I use it. For example, we’re looking for a contractor to hook us up the the city main. I just asked AI about what type of contractor in our area would do this, and their top recommendation supposedly does exactly what I want. When I look at the contractor’s website, no, they only specialize in sewer systems. I told that to AI, and got the response that I was completely right, and AI apologized for the oversight. Then they recommended someone else who specializes in sewers.
Just yesterday AI told me I needed a contractor for this project. When I said that it sounded pretty easy, did I really need one, it agreed with me and said I didn’t need one, it would be simple. When I talked to the utility, well yes, we need a contractor. It gives great answers sometimes that are absolutely wrong, but they’re things I want to hear.
People laugh at Y2K now and I sat up at home watching our companies computers hit midnight BUT, the reason we can laugh at that now is we PREPARED for Y2K so it was a nothing burger. If we had not prepared, it would have been a frick’n mess.