From: Brian Atkins (brian@posthuman.com)
Date: Tue Jun 18 2002 - 21:20:00 MDT
Anders Sandberg wrote:
>
> Fast transformation scenarios tend to be very inhomogeneous. A small
> subset of the world rushes away, and differences increase exponentially.
> This produces disparities that are likely sources of aggression. Slower
Wow, he says it like he already lived through it. Or is this just based
on some simplistic math model you cooked up? I know that if I was part of
a small subset of the world that had somehow managed to quickly transform
ourselves into superintelligent entities that one of the first things I'd
want to do would be to offer such capabilities to everyone else. Obviously,
if the fast transformation in question was being driven by a Friendly AI it
also seems quite absurd to posit that large chunks of the world "get left
behind and get angry". In either case your claim doesn't seem to make
sense.
It's the technology created that drives a fast transformation that also
makes it possible to offer the rapid transformation to everyone equally
and quickly.
> > If we do think a slower transformation is required to insure
> > reasonable survivability, what do we do if the technology
> > ramp-up looks to be moving faster than that? Do we actually
> > advocate policies to slow it down?
>
> I think we need policies to enable better fielding of technologies. These
> policies doesn't have to be top-down laws, they could just as well be in
> the form of insurance. If you have to pay for the risks you induce in
> others by insurance premiums, then very risky development will be done
> more carefully, or moved elsewhere like in space. In many cases I think
> we actually need to help technology to advance more freely than faster:
> we need a broader range of options to test and choose from. This also
> gives us more data to build later decisions on.
This sounds remarkably close to a Luddite fantasy, and seems certain to
halt development of any of the "big three" technologies that people like
Bill Joy worry about. What company is going to pay to setup a lab in
space to develop nanotech, AI, or advanced biotech? The only ones with
the funds would be large governments.
-- Brian Atkins Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence http://www.singinst.org/
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