You seem to be implying that if both the authorities and the insurgents have access to equally powerful AGI, then this works to the net benefit of the authorities.
I am skeptical of that premise, especially in the context of open revolt as we’re seeing in Syria. I don’t think lack of eyeballs on cameras is a significant mechanism there; plain old ordinary human secret police would do fine for that, since people are protesting openly. The key dynamic I see is that the regime isn’t confident that the police or army will obey orders if driven to use lethal force on a large scale.
I don’t see how AI would change that dynamic. If both sides have it, the protesters can optimize their actions to stay within the sphere of uncertainty, even as the government is trying to act as aggressively as it can, without risking the military joining the rebels.
Today, we already have much more sophisticated weapons, communication, information storage, and information retrieval technology than was ever available before. It doesn’t appear to have been a clear net benefit for either freedom or tyranny.
Do you envision AGI strengthening authorities in ways that 20th-century coercive technologies did not?
You seem to be implying that if both the authorities and the insurgents have access to equally powerful AGI, then this works to the net benefit of the authorities.
I am skeptical of that premise, especially in the context of open revolt as we’re seeing in Syria. I don’t think lack of eyeballs on cameras is a significant mechanism there; plain old ordinary human secret police would do fine for that, since people are protesting openly. The key dynamic I see is that the regime isn’t confident that the police or army will obey orders if driven to use lethal force on a large scale.
I don’t see how AI would change that dynamic. If both sides have it, the protesters can optimize their actions to stay within the sphere of uncertainty, even as the government is trying to act as aggressively as it can, without risking the military joining the rebels.
Today, we already have much more sophisticated weapons, communication, information storage, and information retrieval technology than was ever available before. It doesn’t appear to have been a clear net benefit for either freedom or tyranny.
Do you envision AGI strengthening authorities in ways that 20th-century coercive technologies did not?