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Oct 17, 2024
acx

Book Review: Deep Utopia

37 min • 5,159 words • 647 comments • 221 likes • podcast (30 min)
Scott Alexander reviews Nick Bostrom's 'Deep Utopia', which explores the concept of a technologically perfect utopia and discusses how to maintain meaning and purpose in such a world. Longer summary
Scott Alexander reviews Nick Bostrom's book 'Deep Utopia', which explores the concept of a technologically advanced utopia where all problems are solved and people can do whatever they want. The book discusses whether such a utopia would be fulfilling or boring, and proposes various solutions to maintain meaning and purpose in such a world. Scott analyzes Bostrom's ideas, critiques some aspects, and expands on the concept, considering additional implications and scenarios not fully explored in the book. Shorter summary
Sep 10, 2024
acx

Contra DeBoer On Temporal Copernicanism

19 min • 2,556 words • 435 comments • 205 likes • podcast (15 min)
Scott Alexander refutes Freddie deBoer's argument against expecting major events in our lifetimes, presenting a more nuanced approach to estimating such probabilities. Longer summary
Scott Alexander responds to Freddie deBoer's argument against expecting significant events like a singularity or apocalypse in our lifetimes. Alexander critiques deBoer's 'temporal Copernican principle,' arguing that it fails basic sanity checks and misunderstands anthropic reasoning. He presents a more nuanced approach to estimating probabilities of major events, considering factors like technological progress and population distribution. Alexander concludes that while prior probabilities for significant events in one's lifetime are not negligible, they should be updated based on observations and common sense. Shorter summary
Aug 27, 2019
ssc

Book Review: Reframing Superintelligence

17 min • 2,371 words • 254 comments • podcast (17 min)
Scott reviews 'Reframing Superintelligence' by Eric Drexler, which proposes future AI as specialized services rather than general agents, contrasting with Nick Bostrom's scenarios. Longer summary
Scott Alexander reviews Eric Drexler's book 'Reframing Superintelligence', which proposes that future AI may develop as a collection of specialized superintelligent services rather than general-purpose agents. The post compares this view to Nick Bostrom's more alarming scenarios in 'Superintelligence'. Scott discusses the potential safety advantages of AI services, their limitations, and some remaining concerns. He reflects on why he didn't consider this perspective earlier and acknowledges the ongoing debate in the AI alignment community about these different models of future AI development. Shorter summary
Dec 17, 2015
ssc

Should AI Be Open?

31 min • 4,288 words • 798 comments
Scott Alexander argues that OpenAI's open-source strategy for AI development could be dangerous, potentially risking human extinction if AI progresses rapidly. Longer summary
Scott Alexander critiques OpenAI's strategy of making AI research open-source, arguing it could be dangerous if AI develops rapidly. He compares it to giving nuclear weapon plans to everyone, potentially leading to catastrophe. The post analyzes the risks and benefits of open AI, discusses the potential for a hard takeoff in AI development, and examines the AI control problem. Scott expresses concern that competition in AI development may be forcing desperate strategies, potentially risking human extinction. Shorter summary
Jul 13, 2014
ssc

Growing Children For Bostrom’s Disneyland

17 min • 2,250 words • 111 comments
Scott explores a dystopian future scenario of hyper-optimized economic productivity, speculating on the emergence of new patterns and forms of life from this 'economic soup'. Longer summary
This post explores a dystopian future scenario based on Nick Bostrom's 'Superintelligence', where a brutal Malthusian competition leads to a world of economic productivity without consciousness or moral significance. Scott describes this future as a 'Disneyland with no children', where everything is optimized for economic productivity, potentially eliminating consciousness itself. He then speculates on the possibility of emergent patterns arising from this hyper-optimized 'economic soup', comparing it to biological systems and Conway's Game of Life. The post ends with musings on the potential for new forms of life to emerge from these patterns, and the possibility of multiple levels of such emergence. Shorter summary