Erosion to the Max

I was planning on writing about the erosion of control that artificial intelligence is precipitating - and it is happening, we should admit it - but Scott Alexander’s post (Against Against Handover) just landed in my inbox and I took it as a sign that I should pull my thoughts together and get them down. “On paper,” as we used to say.

Scott distinguishes between successionism (and successionists) and “handoverism.” The former is straightforward: let the AIs take over, killing us all most likely. The people who see this happening are, in some cases, “just being realistic” and in other cases actually rooting for the AI overlords. It is icky, to say the least. The handover scenario is somewhat less dire (though still very dire), and suggests that we might be better served by AI running most things, as long as their interests are aligned with ours.

While I reject both visions of the future, Scott Alexander indicates that he finds the second position “plausible” and who am I to take on someone who trashed Stephen Pinker? I encourage you to read his scenarios, which include “Kemalist AI,” “President Claude,” “Parliament of Angels,” “The Night Watchman,” and “God.” Yes. He goes there.

While his scenarios are bracing, I’d like to think that we will pull up short before such an erosion of our own control and an abdication of responsibility for our own destiny. And that this “pulling up short” (whether it be a pause or a stop) will be sufficient reward in itself. It will be a celebration of humanity’s potential, to grasp control from the jaws of erosion, and do the hard work to make our society and our stewardship of this planet what it should and could be.

Alexander, Scott. 2026. “Against Against Handover.” October 20. https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/against-against-handover.