This essay is based on a talk I gave at Hakkavélin, a hackerspace in Reykjavík. I had a wonderful time presenting to a lovely crowd, full of inquisitive and critically-minded people. Their questions and the discussion afterwards led to a number of improvements and clarifications as I turned my notes into this letter. This resulted in a substantial expansion of this essay. Many of the expanded points, such as the ones surrounding language model security, come directly from these discussions.
