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A Plausible Path to a Push-Button AI Apocalypse
Before we get into the horrors of artificially intelligent dystopias, I want to reassure you that I’m an AI optimist. I, for one, welcome our benevolent yet super-intelligent robot overlords, our wise silicon progeny solving all of the problems on behalf of our feeble left-brains, while we are freed to pursue artistic endeavors in the luxurious confines of infinitely-resourced, heaven-like intergalactic art-studios. I’m thinking that I should probably start learning to paint.
Going a little bit deeper with that thought: I’ve noticed that the more broadly intelligent a system is, the more benevolent it seems to be. Lack of understanding, which seems to be correlated with a lack of general intelligence, seems to lead to fear. Fear seems to underlie all malevolence, all anger, all rage, all destruction. Lack of awareness and intelligence leads to the perception of reality as being a zero-sum game that one entity has to win over another.
So I’m going into this article with the assumption that truly super-intelligent systems, so intelligent that we cannot even begin to understand what they are doing, will be inherently benevolent. This is because they won’t be in competition with us; they’ll be playing a much bigger game, perceiving and unveiling a much bigger pie. I understand that this perspective may seem naive, but it’s my current gut…
