Professor Bender,
I read your prepublication article with great interest. One thought it stirred for me is that the harms of the “AI” frame may be strengthened by the older “arms race” frame.
I was at Harvey Mudd when Edward Teller visited and argued, somewhat surprisingly, that excessive secrecy had damaged American science. His view was that classified work drove away some of the best researchers, slowed open correction, and still failed to prevent leakage.
That seems relevant to AI now. “Arms race” language does not merely describe policy. It changes who participates, what work becomes respectable, where accountability goes, and which institutions accumulate power.
My own experience across early Internet development, classified systems work, venture-funded technology, and institutional exclusion has made me increasingly suspicious of any technical framing that hides labor, concentrates authority, or prevents open critique.
Your article gave me a sharper vocabulary for that concern.
Terri Gilbert