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That's an interesting idea, but I think you've missed a step in your reasoning. Sadly, a dystopia where powerful elites enslave the majority of the global popu
by dane-pgp 5y ago
That's an interesting idea, but I think you've missed a step in your reasoning. Sadly, a dystopia where powerful elites enslave the majority of the global population could be quite a stable state of affairs, and that dynamic could persist long enough for the civilization to spread throughout the galaxy.
Even if a war between great powers were to occur in such a scenario (which would not be in the interests of the elites who profit from the status quo), I don't think killer robot swarms are any more likely to, or capable of, causing global civilization collapse than nuclear weapons already are.
- mensetmanusman 5y agoI think there is something we can glean from what happened with the millions of land mines after conflicts, they were just left there to continue to destroy human lives for decades (probably they can last about a hundred years and still trigger). Robots that are solar powered and off in remote parts of the world may continue to destroy people when their nation-state owners are gone because of the last MAD command they get.
- dane-pgp 5y agoI don't think that robots "off in remote parts of the world" constitute an existential threat and a "great filter" unless there is some failure mode where they all suddenly get bored and go off to find targets outside their programmed area.