Imagine that you're in a feud with your evil neighbor, Max. Max always steals your Amazon packages, throws his garbage into your yard, and brings all kinds of shady characters into the neighborhood. He hates you, and you hate him. Now imagine that you control Max's fate. If you push the green button, he will … Continue reading Counterintuitive Foreign Policy →

"Solve intelligence, and then use that to solve everything else." --Demis Hassabis From one perspective, it looks like we're centuries away from creating AI that can compete with humans. The complexity and versatility of a human brain is so far beyond any software we've created, it's like we're not even in the same league yet. … Continue reading Should We Expect Super-Intelligent AI? →

Imagine that there exist two planets. One of them is an impoverished world, with 90% of the global population living in extreme poverty. It is also a very violent world and the major powers are in a near-constant state of war with each other. Deaths from war, genocide, and homicide are commonplace, killing off the … Continue reading Humanity’s Steady, Gradual Improvement →