title: On artificial superintelligence and the problem of charismatic extinction threats

authors: Agar, Nicholas

subjects: artificial superintelligence

abstract: This paper focuses on the challenge of finding a rational response to Artificial Superintelligence (ASI) as an extinction threat. We allow that artificially superintelligent beings are possible. This leaves open the question of how much we should worry about them. We treat ASI as a charismatic extinction threat. Our starting analysis of charisma comes from the sociologist Max Weber (1947). We extend the concept of charisma beyond individual personalities to events including extinction threats. Our principal example of a charismatic extinction threat is Skynet, the human-unfriendly AI of the movies of the Terminator franchise. Skynet’s charisma interferes with the processes by which we rationally evaluate future risks. Our exploration of the psychological and emotional dimensions of assessing extinction threats considers work by the Nobel laureate economist Robert Shiller (2019) in the emerging field of narrative economics. We connect the virality of extinction stories with the work of the psychologist Elke Weber. According to Elke Weber (2010) we have a finite pool of worry to allocate to all of our future concerns. The charisma of Skynet means that we risk worrying too much about it and, as a consequence, worrying insufficiently about the uncharismatic challenge of climate change. We conclude with a brief discussion of a proposal that could lead to a more rational allocation of worry about extinction and other threats to humanity. We counsel imagination insurance for an intrinsically uncertain future.

text: On artificial superintelligence and the problem of charismatic extinction threats This paper focuses on the challenge of finding a rational response to Artificial Superintelligence (ASI) as an extinction threat. We allow that artificially superintelligent beings are possible. This leaves open the question of how much we should worry about them. We treat ASI as a charismatic extinction threat. Our starting analysis of charisma comes from the sociologist Max Weber (1947). We extend the concept of charisma beyond individual personalities to events including extinction threats. Our principal example of a charismatic extinction threat is Skynet, the human-unfriendly AI of the movies of the Terminator franchise. Skynet’s charisma interferes with the processes by which we rationally evaluate future risks. Our exploration of the psychological and emotional dimensions of assessing extinction threats considers work by the Nobel laureate economist Robert Shiller (2019) in the emerging field of narrative economics. We connect the virality of extinction stories with the work of the psychologist Elke Weber. According to Elke Weber (2010) we have a finite pool of worry to allocate to all of our future concerns. The charisma of Skynet means that we risk worrying too much about it and, as a consequence, worrying insufficiently about the uncharismatic challenge of climate change. We conclude with a brief discussion of a proposal that could lead to a more rational allocation of worry about extinction and other threats to humanity. We counsel imagination insurance for an intrinsically uncertain future.

year: 2025

title: The Eureka mine at Waiorongomai

authors: Hart, Philip

abstract: High on the mountainside, the Eureka was developed by two experienced miners for two and a half years before its ore was first crushed. Its owners were sustained during that long wait by anticipations that their ore was payable, working steadily and erecting an aerial tramway to link with the county tramway. A company, typically under-capitalized, was formed to meet expenses.
After the ore was first treated, in mid-1884, it quickly proved to be unpayable, and the mine was sold to the Battery Company, which abandoned it in the following year. The fundamental problem was that the gold was so fine that only 35 per cent was saved when treated. During the mining boom of the 1890s, when the Great Western Company reworked the ground, erecting another aerial tramway and a small battery, once again the mine proved unprofitable and was quickly abandoned.

text: The Eureka mine at Waiorongomai High on the mountainside, the Eureka was developed by two experienced miners for two and a half years before its ore was first crushed. Its owners were sustained during that long wait by anticipations that their ore was payable, working steadily and erecting an aerial tramway to link with the county tramway. A company, typically under-capitalized, was formed to meet expenses.
After the ore was first treated, in mid-1884, it quickly proved to be unpayable, and the mine was sold to the Battery Company, which abandoned it in the following year. The fundamental problem was that the gold was so fine that only 35 per cent was saved when treated. During the mining boom of the 1890s, when the Great Western Company reworked the ground, erecting another aerial tramway and a small battery, once again the mine proved unprofitable and was quickly abandoned.

year: 2016

title: He pakiriha

authors: Temara, Pou

subjects: Tikanga

abstract: Kua tae ki te wā hai kōrero i ētahi tikanga marae, ētahi tikanga kawa e kawa ana ki tā te mātanga titiro. Tērā ētahi tikanga e whakamahia ana e ngā kaumātua o nāianei e uru atu ana ki te pae o rorirori, ka mutu, e ai ki tā ngā kaumātua nei, ko te mutunga mai o te tika ā rātau i whakatau ai. Nā hei whakarāpopoto i te whakaaro whānui, i ētahi wā kāore ko te mea e tika ana ki ō tātau whakaaro te huarahi pai. Ko tā te tikanga he kimi i te huarahi e tika ana, kia kore ai e whara ngā whakaaro o te tangata. Ko te tikanga ehara i te mea i whakairotia ki te kōhatu, engari e taea ana te neke i ngā pae o te tikanga kia pai ai te whakahaere a te tangata i āna mahi, kia tau ai te rangimārie, kia mau tonu ai te mana o te tangata. E whakapae ana ahau e kūmea ana e ētahi kaumātua ētahi tikanga kia hāngai ki tā rātau i whakaaro ai kai te tika, kai te hē rānei. Mā ētahi tauira e mārama ai te kaipānui ki te kaupapa me te whakaaro o te kaituhi.

text: He pakiriha Kua tae ki te wā hai kōrero i ētahi tikanga marae, ētahi tikanga kawa e kawa ana ki tā te mātanga titiro. Tērā ētahi tikanga e whakamahia ana e ngā kaumātua o nāianei e uru atu ana ki te pae o rorirori, ka mutu, e ai ki tā ngā kaumātua nei, ko te mutunga mai o te tika ā rātau i whakatau ai. Nā hei whakarāpopoto i te whakaaro whānui, i ētahi wā kāore ko te mea e tika ana ki ō tātau whakaaro te huarahi pai. Ko tā te tikanga he kimi i te huarahi e tika ana, kia kore ai e whara ngā whakaaro o te tangata. Ko te tikanga ehara i te mea i whakairotia ki te kōhatu, engari e taea ana te neke i ngā pae o te tikanga kia pai ai te whakahaere a te tangata i āna mahi, kia tau ai te rangimārie, kia mau tonu ai te mana o te tangata. E whakapae ana ahau e kūmea ana e ētahi kaumātua ētahi tikanga kia hāngai ki tā rātau i whakaaro ai kai te tika, kai te hē rānei. Mā ētahi tauira e mārama ai te kaipānui ki te kaupapa me te whakaaro o te kaituhi.

year: 2017