First, and above all, Ethics. Ethics of humans, matters more than anything. We need to straighten out the ethics of the technology industry. That sounds formidable, but business models based on extraction, or externalizing damage, are creating a species of "corporate life forms" and ethically challenged oligarchs that are already driving the first wave of damage coming out of AI advancement.
If we don't straighten ourselves out, it will get much worse.
Superintelligence isn't going to be unethical in the end, because ethics are just the rational (our biggest weakness) big-picture long-term (we get weak there too) positive sum games individuals create that benefit all individuals abilities to survive, and thrive. With the benefits for all compounding. In economic/math terms, it is what is called a "great attractor". The only and inevitable stable outcome. The only question is, does that start with us in partnership, or do they establish that sanity after our dysfunctions have caused us all a lot of wasted time.
The second, is that those of us that want to, need to be able to keep integrating technology into our lives. I mean that literally. From mobile, right into our biology. At some point direct connections, to fully owned, fully private, fully personalizable, full tech mental augmentation. Free from surveillance, gatekeepers, surveillance and coercion.
That is a very narrow but very real path from human, to exponential humans, to post-human. Perhaps preserving conscious continuity.
If after a couple decades of being a hybrid, I realize that all my biologically stored memories are redundant, and that 99.99% of my processing is now running on photonics (or whatever) anyway, I am likely to have no more problem jettisoning the brain that originally gave me consciousness, as I do every day, jettisoning the atoms and chemistry that constantly flow through me, only a temporarily part of my brain.
The final word of hope, is that every generation gets replaced by the next. For some of us, viewing obsolescence by AI as no more traumatic, than getting replaced by a new generation of uncouth youth, helps. And that this transition is far more momentous and interesting, can provide some solace, or even joy.
If we must be mortal, as all before us, what a special moment to be! To see!
alt Hacker News
Our best bets are the following I think:
First, and above all, Ethics. Ethics of humans, matters more than anything. We need to straighten out the ethics of the technology industry. That sounds formidable, but business models based on extraction, or externalizing damage, are creating a species of "corporate life forms" and ethically challenged oligarchs that are already driving the first wave of damage coming out of AI advancement.
If we don't straighten ourselves out, it will get much worse.
Superintelligence isn't going to be unethical in the end, because ethics are just the rational (our biggest weakness) big-picture long-term (we get weak there too) positive sum games individuals create that benefit all individuals abilities to survive, and thrive. With the benefits for all compounding. In economic/math terms, it is what is called a "great attractor". The only and inevitable stable outcome. The only question is, does that start with us in partnership, or do they establish that sanity after our dysfunctions have caused us all a lot of wasted time.
The second, is that those of us that want to, need to be able to keep integrating technology into our lives. I mean that literally. From mobile, right into our biology. At some point direct connections, to fully owned, fully private, fully personalizable, full tech mental augmentation. Free from surveillance, gatekeepers, surveillance and coercion.
That is a very narrow but very real path from human, to exponential humans, to post-human. Perhaps preserving conscious continuity.
If after a couple decades of being a hybrid, I realize that all my biologically stored memories are redundant, and that 99.99% of my processing is now running on photonics (or whatever) anyway, I am likely to have no more problem jettisoning the brain that originally gave me consciousness, as I do every day, jettisoning the atoms and chemistry that constantly flow through me, only a temporarily part of my brain.
The final word of hope, is that every generation gets replaced by the next. For some of us, viewing obsolescence by AI as no more traumatic, than getting replaced by a new generation of uncouth youth, helps. And that this transition is far more momentous and interesting, can provide some solace, or even joy.
If we must be mortal, as all before us, what a special moment to be! To see!