Retarding the progress of AI research obviously isn't the solution, precisely for the reasons you outlined. Getting there first, and safely, seems to me the mo

Retarding the progress of AI research obviously isn't the solution, precisely for the reasons you outlined. Getting there first, and safely, seems to me the most prudent option. The creation of a Manhattan Project-style program to accelerate progress within a restricted, safety-minded environment may be the best way to proceed. The nature of AGI seems such that the first to attain it may very well determine the future. I just hope that when governments come to this realization, they collaborate or otherwise proceed in secret. Nick Bostrom examined race dynamics between competing projects at length in his book, and it is quite ugly. Safety is the first casualty in most scenarios. That aside, I sincerely hope that the first entity which succeeds in attaining AGI utilizes it for the greater benefit of humanity. Anything else would be petty.