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Now imagine same but with AI killer bot swarms. Slaughterbots. Because we could ! As long as we have COMPETITION as the main principle for all tech development

by EGreg 3y ago

Now imagine same but with AI killer bot swarms. Slaughterbots. Because we could ! As long as we have COMPETITION as the main principle for all tech development — between countries or corporations etc. — we will not be able to rein in global crises such as climate change, destruction of ecosystems, or killer AI. We need “collaboration” and “cooperation” at the highest levels as an organizing principle, instead. Competition causes many huge negative externalities to the rest of the planet.

HappMacDonald 3y ago
What we really need is some way to force competition to be sportsmanlike. EG: cooperating to compete, just like well adjusted competitors in a friendly tournament who actually care about refining their own skills and facing a challenge from others who feel the same way instead of cutting corners and throats to get ahead. Cooperation with no competition subtracts all urgency because one must prioritize not rocking the boat and one never knows what negative consequences any decision one makes might prove to have. You need both forces to be present, but cooperation must also be the background/default touchstone with adversarial competition employed as a tool within that framework.
- EGreg 3y ago
  I don’t see any urgency in depleting ecosystems or building AI quickly or any other innovations besides ones to safeguard the environment, including animals. Human society has developed far slower throughout all history and prehistory, and that was OK. We’ve solved child mortality and we are doing just fine. But 1/3 of arable farmland is now desertified, insect populations are plummeting etc. Urgency is needed the other way — in increasing cooperation. As we did ONE TIME with the Montreal Protocol and almost eliminated CFCs worldwide to repair the hole in the ozone layer
- saulpw 3y ago
  I like this viewpoint of "cooperate to compete". It's what we've been doing on a global scale as ~all nations have agreed to property rights, international trade, and abiding by laws they've written down. And in fact some would say that at the largest business scale, there is this cooperation--witness the collusion between AAPL/GOOG/etc not to poach each others' employees. But there doesn't seem to be the same respect for "smaller" businesses, as they are viewed as prey instead of weaker hunters.
NoGravitas 3y ago
You're right, but it's not just tech development, it's pervasive throughout our civilization. And solving it requires solving it almost everywhere, at close to the same time.

by EGreg 3y ago

HappMacDonald 3y ago

What we really need is some way to force competition to be sportsmanlike. EG: cooperating to compete, just like well adjusted competitors in a friendly tournament who actually care about refining their own skills and facing a challenge from others who feel the same way instead of cutting corners and throats to get ahead. Cooperation with no competition subtracts all urgency because one must prioritize not rocking the boat and one never knows what negative consequences any decision one makes might prove to have. You need both forces to be present, but cooperation must also be the background/default touchstone with adversarial competition employed as a tool within that framework.

EGreg 3y ago
I don’t see any urgency in depleting ecosystems or building AI quickly or any other innovations besides ones to safeguard the environment, including animals. Human society has developed far slower throughout all history and prehistory, and that was OK. We’ve solved child mortality and we are doing just fine. But 1/3 of arable farmland is now desertified, insect populations are plummeting etc. Urgency is needed the other way — in increasing cooperation. As we did ONE TIME with the Montreal Protocol and almost eliminated CFCs worldwide to repair the hole in the ozone layer
saulpw 3y ago
I like this viewpoint of "cooperate to compete". It's what we've been doing on a global scale as ~all nations have agreed to property rights, international trade, and abiding by laws they've written down. And in fact some would say that at the largest business scale, there is this cooperation--witness the collusion between AAPL/GOOG/etc not to poach each others' employees. But there doesn't seem to be the same respect for "smaller" businesses, as they are viewed as prey instead of weaker hunters.

NoGravitas 3y ago

You're right, but it's not just tech development, it's pervasive throughout our civilization. And solving it requires solving it almost everywhere, at close to the same time.