you can get 100x gains by optimizing your code rather than throwing endless compute at your model

woah, that sounds dangerously close to saying this is all just developing computer software. Don’t you know we’re trying to build God???

It’s easier to sell people on the idea of a new technology or system that doesn’t have any historical precedent. All you have to do is list the potential upsides.

Something like a school or a workplace training programme, those are known quantities. There’s a whole bunch of historical and currently-existing projects anyone can look at to gauge the cost. Your pitch has to be somewhat realistic compared to those, or it’s gonna sound really suspect.

We already know the NSA is keeping tabs on everyone

The biggest existential threat is still ecological destruction. Old growth forest are raised to the ground, the ocean is warming and acidifying as it absorbs CO2, and it’s all to make computers and toasters that don’t even last a decade.