But it is surprising that life could only appear on our planet, since it doesn’t seem to have unique features. If we’re alone, that probably means we’re just first. If we just blow up ourselves, another sentient species will probably appear someday somewhere else with a chance to not mess up. But an expanding unaligned AI will wipe out all chance of life appearing in the future. That’s a big difference.
But it is surprising that life could only appear on our planet, since it doesn’t seem to have unique features. If we’re alone, that probably means we’re just first. If we just blow up ourselves, another sentient species will probably appear someday somewhere else with a chance to not mess up. But an expanding unaligned AI will wipe out all chance of life appearing in the future. That’s a big difference.
What does “could appear” mean here? 1 in 10? 1 in a trillion? 1 in 10^50?
Remember we live in a tiny universe with only ~10^23 stars.