Continuations
Heading towards the knowledge age
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Latest posts
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Philosophy Mondays: Knowledge & Consciousness
For my second pass over the Philosophy Monday series, I have asked Claude to give me a critique. One of the first things it flagged is that I first use knowledge as the source of values but subsequently make a big deal of consciousness as one of the key elements of the Universal…
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The World After Capital: The Transition is Accelerating
A lot is happening these days that makes my book The World After Capital more relevant than ever. My central argument is that digital technology, with AI as its apotheosis, is so powerful that it requires a new age. We are not talking about some incremental tweaks to how we…
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Philosophy Mondays: How to Live a Good Life at The Spark of Hudson
Last Friday we started a group at The Spark of Hudson on “How to Live a Good Life.” Despite announcing it only a couple of days earlier there was terrific turnout with almost twenty people attending. The motto of The Spark is “Learn Together” and in this spirit we will be…
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The Right to be Represented by an Agent
Well over a decade ago I gave my first talk on the idea that we need a right to be represented by what I called a bot. At the time a lot of people simply shrugged off this idea. It seemed too outlandish. Of course now, we all see ads for Muse every day. We now call them agents…
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Philosophy Mondays: Reflection and Application
I have now been writing Philosophy Mondays on and off for 18 months with 31 posts total. The next phase of the project will be to go back over everything and make corrections based on what I have learned along the way. Much as when I was writing The World After Capital, it is…
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Universal Moral Core Principle 3: Implications
Last week's post provided an explanation of the third principle of the Universal Moral Core, which I will also refer to as the consciousness principle. Today we are looking at its implications. The most immediate implication today is that we should closely examine how we humans…
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Universal Moral Core Principle 3
Today’s post continues the Universal Moral Core series by explaining the third principle, which states Value the diversity and autonomy of different forms of consciousness. Let’s start, as we have with the other two principles, by looking at the last term first, i.e.…
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Philosophy Mondays: The Last Labor Day
Today’s post is an interlude to the Universal Moral Core series, which will resume next week. Labor Day originated during the peak of the Industrial Revolution to celebrate workers and their contributions to the economy. Now, however, the Industrial Age is two decades past its…
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Why AI Consciousness Matters
Going back to the initial publication of my book The World After Capital in 2021, I had a paragraph in the conclusion discussing the potential for artificial intelligences to become "neohumans." I chose this word purposefully because I was and am still hoping that we can…
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Universal Moral Core Principle 2: Implications
First up a quick recap to where we are in this mini-series. A few weeks back, I proposed a Universal Moral Core consisting of three principles. I am now writing posts explaining each principle in greater detail and examining some of the implications. There was a post on the…
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Universal Moral Core Principle 2
The second principle in my proposed Universal Moral Core (UMC) is as follows: Accept the responsibility that comes from power. This principle is inspired by the great font of philosophical wisdom that is Spider-Man. As a fun aside, while in movies and newer comics this line is…
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Slowing Down the Race to Superintelligence
Earlier this week, Gigi and I signed the Statement on Superintelligence and explained our rationale. Today the promised follow up post with a concrete proposal for a plan. There is a unique moment of opportunity for a negotiated AI slowdown with China with limits on how many GW…
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Signing the Statement on Superintelligence
Gigi and I have signed the Statement on Superintelligence, which calls for a pause on the development of superintelligence. This blog post lays out our rationale for doing so now after having previously held off on supporting other “pause AI” appeals. We have a broad set of…
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Philosophy Mondays: Human Nature and Multiscale Analysis
Today’s post is an interlude in the Universal Moral Core series to discuss human nature. Given how much philosophical and other writing centers on different ideas of human nature, including the endless nature versus nurture debate, this aside obviously isn’t meant to be some…
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Universal Moral Core Principle 1: Implications
In last week's post I explained the first principle of the Universal Moral Core (UMC) in greater detail. Today I want to investigate some of its implications for how we should behave. As a reminder, earlier in the series, I suggested that the goal of philosophy should be to help…
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The Cost of Capital in the AGI Age
A few years back we experienced the infamous vibecession. Kudos to Kyla Scanlon for this terrific term which captures a moment where the public feels bad about the economy at a moment where traditional economic indicators are not showing a recession. At the time there was a huge…