  This article critically examines the recent hype around AI safety. We first
start with noting the nature of the AI safety hype as being dominated by
governments and corporations, and contrast it with other avenues within AI
research on advancing social good. We consider what 'AI safety' actually means,
and outline the dominant concepts that the digital footprint of AI safety
aligns with. We posit that AI safety has a nuanced and uneasy relationship with
transparency and other allied notions associated with societal good, indicating
that it is an insufficient notion if the goal is that of societal good in a
broad sense. We note that the AI safety debate has already influenced some
regulatory efforts in AI, perhaps in not so desirable directions. We also share
our concerns on how AI safety may normalize AI that advances structural harm
through providing exploitative and harmful AI with a veneer of safety.
