our current reckless trajectory only makes sense if you view it as a gambit to stave off the rest of the things that are coming for us
At this point, I think the AI race is driven by competitive dynamics. AI looks like a path to profit and power, and if you don’t reach for it, someone else will. For those involved, this removes the need to even ask whether to do it: it’s a foregone conclusion that someone will do it. The only thing I see even putting a dent in this competitive dynamics, is if something happens that terrifies even people like Musk, Trump, and Xi, terrifying enough that they would put aside their differences and truly organize a halt to the race.
You’re definitely challenging a key piece of my perspective here, and I’ve thought a good bit about how to respond. What I’ve come up with, is… I think all of us are involved. The labs don’t exist in a vacuum, and the opinion of the public does have an impact. So I think looking at scopes of agency larger than the individual is a helpful thing to do.
In this piece I’m describing the choice that is getting made on behalf of humanity, from the lens of humanity. Because it really does affect all of us. But that’s also why I take a hands-off kind of approach here, because it’s not necessarily my role to say or know what I think humanity should be doing. I’m just an ignorant grain of sand.
At this point, I think the AI race is driven by competitive dynamics. AI looks like a path to profit and power, and if you don’t reach for it, someone else will. For those involved, this removes the need to even ask whether to do it: it’s a foregone conclusion that someone will do it. The only thing I see even putting a dent in this competitive dynamics, is if something happens that terrifies even people like Musk, Trump, and Xi, terrifying enough that they would put aside their differences and truly organize a halt to the race.
You’re definitely challenging a key piece of my perspective here, and I’ve thought a good bit about how to respond. What I’ve come up with, is… I think all of us are involved. The labs don’t exist in a vacuum, and the opinion of the public does have an impact. So I think looking at scopes of agency larger than the individual is a helpful thing to do.
In this piece I’m describing the choice that is getting made on behalf of humanity, from the lens of humanity. Because it really does affect all of us. But that’s also why I take a hands-off kind of approach here, because it’s not necessarily my role to say or know what I think humanity should be doing. I’m just an ignorant grain of sand.