In Superintelligence, Nick Bostrom, paints a gloomy picture of what’s in store for us would we ever develop a superintelligence. It left me depressed, but I think it’s essential to have rudimentary understanding of the challenges a general artificial intelligence would entail. This book presents potential paths to reach superintelligence and dives deep into the problem of controlling a force with capacities far beyond our own.
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Paths to Superintelligence.
1. Seed AI
🚸 “Seed AI” – A program learning by trial and error. Becoming more and more advanced over time. 🌱
2. While Brain Emulation
🚸 “Whole Brain Emulation” – Creating a digital representation of a brain by scanning and then replicate and enhance its it’s functions. 🧠
3. Bio-technical Enhancements
🚸 “Biotechnological Enhancements” – at least weak forms of super intelligence can be achieved by mental and physical enhancements in the near future. 🔬
4. Iterated Embryo Selection
🚸 “Iterated Embryo Selection” – Another way to reach super intelligence is through gene manipulation and breeding. Creating supersperms by matching and breeding them in labs, concentrating leaps of several generations in one go. This could create a new enhanced “race” of humans that together could be called a super intelligence. 👶🏼
⭐️ Takeaway:
The introduction of a superintelligence will propose a potential existential risk. But it could prevents other existential risks, like meteor strikes, or super volcano eruptions.
Book Verdict: Superintelligence
Superintelligence by Nick Bostrom is complex and sometimes painfully dense with information. Despite this fact I consider it a worthwhile investment of my time in hindsight. If you are looking for more accessible and less technical book starting for learning about AI I would recommend “Surviving AI” by C. Chace or Scary Smart by Mo Dawdat
4/4
