Here is an example of a way that something could kill everyone if it suddenly became significantly smarter than a human:
Crack the protein folding problem, to the extent of being able to generate DNA strings whose folded peptide sequences fill specific functional roles in a complex chemical interaction.
Email sets of DNA strings to one or more online laboratories which offer DNA synthesis, peptide sequencing, and FedEx delivery. (Many labs currently offer this service, and some boast of 72-hour turnaround times.)
Find at least one human connected to the Internet who can be paid, blackmailed, or fooled by the right background story, into receiving FedExed vials and mixing them in a specified environment.
The synthesized proteins form a very primitive «wet» nanosystem which, ribosome-like, is capable of accepting external instructions; perhaps patterned acoustic vibrations delivered by a speaker attached to the beaker.
Use the extremely primitive nanosystem to build more sophisticated systems, which construct still more sophisticated systems, bootstrapping to [self-replicating] molecular nanotechnology — or beyond.
The elapsed turnaround time would be, imaginably, on the order of a week from when the fast intelligence first became able to solve the protein folding problem.
(for techxecutives and ML researchers, maybe policymakers too, this is a very bizarre statement and I only recommend using it if a valuable opportunity clearly presents itself e.g. with people who are already have some experience with futurism)
Here is an example of a way that something could kill everyone if it suddenly became significantly smarter than a human:
Crack the protein folding problem, to the extent of being able to generate DNA strings whose folded peptide sequences fill specific functional roles in a complex chemical interaction.
Email sets of DNA strings to one or more online laboratories which offer DNA synthesis, peptide sequencing, and FedEx delivery. (Many labs currently offer this service, and some boast of 72-hour turnaround times.)
Find at least one human connected to the Internet who can be paid, blackmailed, or fooled by the right background story, into receiving FedExed vials and mixing them in a specified environment.
The synthesized proteins form a very primitive «wet» nanosystem which, ribosome-like, is capable of accepting external instructions; perhaps patterned acoustic vibrations delivered by a speaker attached to the beaker.
Use the extremely primitive nanosystem to build more sophisticated systems, which construct still more sophisticated systems, bootstrapping to [self-replicating] molecular nanotechnology — or beyond.
The elapsed turnaround time would be, imaginably, on the order of a week from when the fast intelligence first became able to solve the protein folding problem.
(for techxecutives and ML researchers, maybe policymakers too, this is a very bizarre statement and I only recommend using it if a valuable opportunity clearly presents itself e.g. with people who are already have some experience with futurism)
EY, AI as a pos neg factor, 2006ish