[extropy-chat] Tyranny in place

[Rafal Smigrodzki]

On 10/2/06, Joseph Bloch <transhumanist at goldenfuture.net> wrote:

>
> However, I do agree with them on one overriding point; that the threat
> posed by Islamist extremists is one which threatens the very existence
> of the United States and Western culture as a whole, and I find that
> ensuring the overall survival of Western civilization, which I believe
> to be the most conducive to achieving a PostHuman future, is paramount.
>
### I don't see it this way. Islamic extremists a just a bunch of, to
use a racist term, despicable, stupid ragheads who couldn't stare down
a brigade of Marines, much less destroy Western civilization. In terms
of firepower they are not in the same league as the SS or the Red
Army, by orders of magnitude. They are a trifle.

However, dismantling the legal devices that protect the freedom of the
Americans may result in severe disruption of our way of life without
ever making the slightest difference in reducing the jihadist threat.
The Vingean singularity may occur within the next 30 years, and I am
genuinely curious if it will be delayed, or worse, perverted by the
rise of the security state.

How is the likelihood of the rise of an unfriendly AI impacted by
increased secrecy, and out-of-control spending on nefarious projects?
We know that the opportunity to exercise unbridled control over others
attracts the most vicious humans - will therefore our guardians (now
less guarded by judges and citizens) become more vicious on average?
What will be the AI like, if its makers are psychopaths with unlimited
budgets in a black project?

Current scuffles in distant and unsavory parts of the world do not
worry me directly. What worries me is their possible indirect impact,
through inducing deleterious changes in our political culture, on the
course of AI research.

Rafal