AI will make biological extinction risks worse before it makes them better

An argument goes: If we don't build aligned artificial superintelligence, we risk driving ourselves extinct for some other reason. We should rush to build ASI quickly, in spite of the risks—the longer we wait, the more vulnerable we are to extinction from a different cause. Other than ASI, the biggest extinction risk is synthetic biology. Some lab could (accidentally or on purpose) develop a highly transmissible, 100% fatal super-plague that wipes out humanity. An aligned ASI could stop that fro...