Open Thread 454

Read the original at Astral Codex Ten ↗
Astral Codex Ten · collected 2026-10-05 · by Scott Alexander commentary

Quick Summary

This article is a weekly thread inviting discussion on various topics related to ACX, an organization with online forums and in-person meetups worldwide. It includes updates such as a change in the time and place of a BYU college meetup, completion of Fatima document translations by Nikita Sokolsky, availability of past book reviews compiled into e-books by Rob Ennals, and a call for physicians to join Physicians For AI Safety. The author also apologizes for recent sparse writing due to busyness.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-05, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

This is a weekly update from the Astral Codex Ten community where members discuss various topics. Scott Alexander mentions updates on EA college meetups at Brigham Young University, noting a change in time, date, or place. A reader named Nikita Sokolsky has translated additional Fatima documents from Portugal into English and made them available online. Additionally, Rob Ennals compiled earlier years' book reviews into e-books for easier access. The post also advertises Physicians For AI Safety, inviting interested physicians to sign their open letter. Alexander apologizes for reduced recent output due to a busy schedule.

Written for “Open Thread Discussion” on 2026-10-05, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
10
claim-shaped sentences
Uncertain
0%
0 of 10 hedged
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Correction & hedging signals
not measured
these signals count newsroom corrections; Commentary has none to count
Outlets on this story
1
Other
Narrative spread
1
articles carrying this framing
Analyzed 2026-10-05 · how these are computed

Story

📰 Open Thread Discussion
Other · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Open Thread different event
Reason
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 no claims extracted 📰 publisher trust 66
“The articles are different open threads posted on separate dates.”
Open Thread different event
Reason
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 no claims extracted 📰 publisher trust 66
“The articles are weekly open threads on different dates and do not describe a single specific incident.”
Open Thread different event
Reason
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 no claims extracted 📰 publisher trust 66
“The articles are weekly open threads posted on different dates, likely not referring to a single specific incident.”
Open Thread different event
Reason
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 no claims extracted 📰 publisher trust 66
“The articles are weekly open threads on different days and do not describe a single specific incident.”
Open Thread different event
Reason
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 no claims extracted 📰 publisher trust 66
“The articles are open threads on different platforms with no indication of describing a single specific incident.”

Publisher

Astral Codex Ten · 46 article(s) · 3 correction(s) detected
No corrections detected for this publisher. That may mean careful reporting, or simply that nothing has been checked.

Who wrote this

Scott Alexander
42 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 I’m pretty busy and will try to make up for it after that changes.
2026-10-05 · assertive framing · Open Thread 454
🔮 My wife and I could make healthy embryos, but none of the transfers were sticking.
2026-10-02 · assertive framing · Our AI Midwife
🔮 The challenger in that race, Jamie Joyce, contacted me and asked me to change my mind (both candidates will be facing off again in the general election).
2026-09-28 · assertive framing · Open Thread 453
🔮 [This is one of the finalists in the 2026 book review contest, written by an ACX reader who will remain anonymous until after voting is done.
2026-09-25 · assertive framing · Your Book Review: Lee Kuan Yew's Memoirs
🔮 In the public debates after the release of AI 2027, some people accused us of misleading readers by positing “neuralese recurrence”, a hypothetical technology that would allow AIs to think dangerous thoughts without getting detected.
2026-09-24 · assertive framing · The Specter Of Neuralese
🔮 If you trained an AI to give the 19th-century names for birds (eg identify the American Pipit by its 19th-century name “Brown Titlark”), then the AI would behave like a 19th-century person in general (for example, assert that a woman’s proper place is in the home).
2026-09-23 · assertive framing · Mysteries Of AI Generalization
🔮 1: Josh Morrison, who wrote the guest post about how AI Superforecasting Will Transform The FDA, will be doing a panel on the subject with former FDA employee Adam Kroetsch in SF on October 1.
2026-09-21 · assertive framing · Open Thread 452
🔮 [This is one of the finalists in the 2026 book review contest, written by an ACX reader who will remain anonymous until after voting is done.
2026-09-18 · assertive framing · Your Book Review: This Is Going To Hurt
🔮 I. In the gods’ great scramble for human followers, Nodens would seem to have lost decisively.
2026-09-15 · assertive framing · King Ludd
🔮 The book review posts will resume this week.
2026-09-14 · assertive framing · Open Thread 451
Also by Scott Alexander
Our AI Midwife
2026-10-02 · Astral Codex Ten
Open Thread 453
2026-09-28 · Astral Codex Ten
Your Book Review: Lee Kuan Yew's Memoirs
2026-09-25 · Astral Codex Ten
The Specter Of Neuralese
2026-09-24 · Astral Codex Ten
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 42 articles by Scott Alexander →

Topics

ACX Brigham Young University Discord Fatima Portugal

Subjects

ACX ORG · 1× Ana PERSON · 1× Brigham Young University ORG · 1× Discord ORG · 1× Fatima ORG · 1× Nikita Sokolsky PERSON · 1× Physicians For AI Safety ORG · 1× Portugal GPE · 1× Rob Ennals PERSON · 1×

Narrative

4: Physicians For AI Safety wishes to advertise that they exist, are interested in talking to any physicians interested in AI safety, and have an open letter that such people can sign. 5:
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-05
🔮 I’m pretty busy and will try to make up for it after that changes.
2026-10-05 · Astral Codex Ten
Open Thread 454 · assertive framing

Claims (10 extracted, 0 hedged)

Post about anything you want, ask random questions, whatever. asserted
you → post → questions
ACX has an unofficial subreddit, Discord, and bulletin board, and in-person meetups around the world. asserted
ACX → have → world
Most content is free, some is subscriber only; you can subscribe here. asserted
you → subscribe → ?
Brigham Young University has changed its time/date/place, please check the list for more information. asserted
University → change → information
2: Reader Nikita Sokolsky has completed his work getting some extra Fatima documents from Portugal and translating them into English. asserted
Sokolsky → complete → English
You can find them at https://fatima-1917.com/ . asserted
You → find → https://fatima-1917.com/
And thanks again to Ana for handling the parts that required Portuguese profiency. asserted
that → handle → profiency
3: Rob Ennals, who made this year’s book review contest site, has gathered the reviews from earlier years into epubs here. asserted
who → make → epubs
4: Physicians For AI Safety wishes to advertise that they exist, are interested in talking to any physicians interested in AI safety, and have an open letter that such people can sign. 5: asserted
people → wish → that
I’m pretty busy and will try to make up for it after that changes. asserted
that → ’m → it
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