tl;dr AI specifically trained to research and create new AI will cause exponential growth, leading us to either inhabit Mars by 2030 or be exterminated by insect-sized drones. Also, China.
Discussion
Mars is a sinkhole.
So was North America for Europeans, until they levelled up their ISRU and started living off local resources.
A lot of colonies didn't make it.
Neither of these things are going to happen
I read it all and it's a wild read. Could things really accelerate that fast? Maybe? I guess anything is possible. I'll believe it once we start using AI to do AI research as the norm.