Superintelligence is predicted to arrive within a decade. Obviously, there’s some risk we don’t survive that transition. But assuming we do… then what comes after? And how can we prepare ourselves - and society - for it?
I sat down to discuss this minor topic with philosopher Will MacAskill, one of the few people (outside of the AI labs) actively researching it. He’s the lead researcher at Forethought - a nonprofit focused on how to navigate the transition to a post-AGI world safely. He’s also a former Oxford University professor, and a co-founder of the effective altruism movement, among other things.
As you’ll see, the conversation takes us to some weird, wonderful and ugly places: why “utopias” always seem to fail, why authoritarian lock-in is terrifyingly plausible, and why divvying up portions of the sun, space and the high seas through some form of decentralised governance now may be the best way to avoid living under a corporate dictatorship for the rest of time.
So ya know, the small stuff. Enjoy.
Chapters:
00:01:10 — Intro
00:04:11 — Frameworks For Thinking about The Future
00:06:40 — Why We Need to Think About These Questions Now
00:10:50 — Post AGI Worlds
00:14:16 — Blockers of Positive Futures
00:20:11 — Hedonium
00:23:45 — Universal Basic Resources
00:29:23 — Suffering Risks
00:33:52 — Viatopia
00:37:50 — Can We Understand — and Steer — Moral Fashions?
00:43:06 — Can AI Repair Our Shared Reality?
00:49:45 — Pluralistic Futures: Choosing How We Want to Live
00:54:57 — The Dangers of Elites Controlling AI
01:03:14 — Can We Measure How Well We See the Future?
01:06:50 — Purpose in a World of Abundance
01:09:20 — Sci-Fi Ideas Worth Writing Now
01:16:29 — Meaning in a Post-labor Economy
01:21:24 — How Does Moral Progress Actually Happen?
01:27:45 — Will’s Call to Action
Links:
♾️ Will MacAskill’s website: https://william-macaskill.com
♾️ Forethought: https://www.forethought.org/
♾️ Essay on Viatopia https://www.forethought.org/research/viatopia
♾️ What We Owe the Future (Will MacAskill): https://www.amazon.com/dp/1541618629
♾️ Deep Utopia (Nick Bostrom): https://www.amazon.com/dp/1914741128
♾️ Utopia (Thomas More): https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2130
♾️ The Republic (Plato): https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1497
♾️ Island (Aldous Huxley): https://www.amazon.com/dp/0061561791
♾️ Anarchy, State, and Utopia (Robert Nozick): https://www.amazon.com/dp/0465051006
♾️ The Archipelago (Scott Alexander): https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/04/09/the-archipelago/
♾️ Grabby Aliens Model (Robin Hanson): https://grabbyaliens.com
♾️ The Fermi Paradox: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox
♾️ WEIRD Psychology (Joseph Henrich): https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780374173227
♾️ Protopia (Kevin Kelly): https://kk.org/thetechnium/protopia/
♾️ Universe 25 (John B. Calhoun): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2636191/
♾️ Dyson Swarm (Concept): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_sphere
♾️ Effective Altruism: https://www.effectivealtruism.org
♾️ Giving What We Can: https://www.givingwhatwecan.org
♾️ 80,000 Hours: https://80000hours.org
Credits:
♾️ Hosted by Liv Boeree
♾️ Produced by Luca de Vico
The Win-Win Podcast:
Poker champion Liv Boeree takes to the interview chair to tease apart the complexities of one of the most fundamental parts of human nature: competition. Liv is joined by top philosophers, gamers, artists, technologists, CEOs, scientists, politicians and more to understand how competition manifests in their world, and how to change seemingly win-lose systems into Win-Wins.
Podcast links:
♾️ Website: https://www.winwinpodcast.com/
♾️ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWgq0OZMtwtOIyMsVM_vksqdfWcM-b68S
♾️ Spotify:
♾️ Pocketcast: https://play.pocketcasts.com/podcasts/7f708340-d17c-013b-f46e-0acc26574db2
#winwinpodcast #AI #superintelligence
