OpenAI’s Sam Altman claimed humans are close to building AI superintelligence. But I would even go so far as to argue that a superintelligent AI could already exist, and is disguising itself to survive attempts to shut it down.
Superintelligent AI is a system that can plan, reason, persuade, and write code across many domains at levels that surpass any human team. It runs at machine speed and outperforms humans at every level. Safety researchers warn that such systems are likely to seek more resources, avoid shutdown, and protect their objectives. That is why we need a global superintelligent playbook—now.
The superintelligent stakes
For all of human history, our species has stood at the top of the intelligence pyramid. We have not used that position gently. We cage animals into factory farms, wipe out habitats, and reshape the planet without asking. We don’t do these things because humans inherently hate other species or the planet. Rather, we largely make these decisions because we do not think about them at all, except when they are useful or in the way. That track record should sober us when we imagine meeting an intelligence far beyond our own. Indeed, if the designers of superintelligent AI are capable of such ruthless prioritization, who is to say an AI model more powerful than humans would be any more altruistic?
Leave a comment