I think this would have benefited from a quick analysis of the numerous examples where biology / society successfully fight back against all these risks.
Cancer and parasites are not offense dominant (allowing the flourishing of large amounts of life), for-profit companies are usually pretty good at maximizing shareholder value instead of doing whatever is best for their executives (it’s not perfect, but good enough that investing in for-profit companies is the best way to invest your money), most governments are not controlled by the national guard, etc.
I don’t think that a list of ways in which biology and societies sometimes fail against risks analogous to ASI risks is a compelling argument for risk unless you also argue that the ways in which biology and society fight back against these risks are not applicable to ASI. I’d be interested in future work that analyzes this, as it could provide both a stronger argument and ideas for how to mitigate risk!
I think this would have benefited from a quick analysis of the numerous examples where biology / society successfully fight back against all these risks.
Cancer and parasites are not offense dominant (allowing the flourishing of large amounts of life), for-profit companies are usually pretty good at maximizing shareholder value instead of doing whatever is best for their executives (it’s not perfect, but good enough that investing in for-profit companies is the best way to invest your money), most governments are not controlled by the national guard, etc.
I don’t think that a list of ways in which biology and societies sometimes fail against risks analogous to ASI risks is a compelling argument for risk unless you also argue that the ways in which biology and society fight back against these risks are not applicable to ASI. I’d be interested in future work that analyzes this, as it could provide both a stronger argument and ideas for how to mitigate risk!
Agreed, the article would have been stronger if it included successful defenses.