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: Investigating real-time monitoring of fatigue indicators of New Zealand forestry workers

authors: Bowen, Judy

subjects: Science & Technology

abstract: The New Zealand forestry industry has one of the highest fatality and injury rates of any industrial sector in the country. Worker fatigue has been identified as one of the main contributing factors. Currently no independent and objective large data source is available that might support an analysis of this, or provide the basis for ongoing monitoring to further investigate. In order to successfully manage fatigue in the forestry workplace, we must identify suitable ways of detecting it. Industry partners are increasingly looking at monitoring solutions (particularly lightweight, wearable technology) that aim to measure worker activities and physiological metrics in order to determine if they are fatigued.

In this article we present the results of studies which investigate whether or not such technology can capture meaningful data in a reliable way that is both practical and usable within the forestry domain. Two series of studies were undertaken with in-situ forestry workers using reaction and decision-making times as a measure of potential impairment, while considering activity levels (via step count and heart rate) and job-roles. We present the results of these studies and further provide a comparison of results across different ambient temperatures (winter vs. summer periods). The results of our studies suggest that it may not be possible to identify correlations between workloads (based on both physical and cognitive stresses) and fatigue measures using in-situ measurements as results are highly personalised to individual workers and can be misleading if the wider context is not also taken into consideration.

text: Investigating real-time monitoring of fatigue indicators of New Zealand forestry workers The New Zealand forestry industry has one of the highest fatality and injury rates of any industrial sector in the country. Worker fatigue has been identified as one of the main contributing factors. Currently no independent and objective large data source is available that might support an analysis of this, or provide the basis for ongoing monitoring to further investigate. In order to successfully manage fatigue in the forestry workplace, we must identify suitable ways of detecting it. Industry partners are increasingly looking at monitoring solutions (particularly lightweight, wearable technology) that aim to measure worker activities and physiological metrics in order to determine if they are fatigued.

In this article we present the results of studies which investigate whether or not such technology can capture meaningful data in a reliable way that is both practical and usable within the forestry domain. Two series of studies were undertaken with in-situ forestry workers using reaction and decision-making times as a measure of potential impairment, while considering activity levels (via step count and heart rate) and job-roles. We present the results of these studies and further provide a comparison of results across different ambient temperatures (winter vs. summer periods). The results of our studies suggest that it may not be possible to identify correlations between workloads (based on both physical and cognitive stresses) and fatigue measures using in-situ measurements as results are highly personalised to individual workers and can be misleading if the wider context is not also taken into consideration.

year: 2019

title: Creating a curriculum for indigenous and community languages: Te reo Māori as an example

authors: Bruce, Ian

subjects: linguistics

abstract: Part 1 of this paper introduces the draft Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) for languages and describes how it was used in the construction of draft New Zealand curriculum guidelines for French and German. Part 2 discusses how the CEFR has been employed in curriculum development in Te Reo Māori at the University of Waikato and suggests that it could also prove useful in relation to curriculum development projects involving indigenous and community languages more generally.

text: Creating a curriculum for indigenous and community languages: Te reo Māori as an example Part 1 of this paper introduces the draft Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) for languages and describes how it was used in the construction of draft New Zealand curriculum guidelines for French and German. Part 2 discusses how the CEFR has been employed in curriculum development in Te Reo Māori at the University of Waikato and suggests that it could also prove useful in relation to curriculum development projects involving indigenous and community languages more generally.

year: 2002