[ExI] Why “Everyone Dies” Gets AGI All Wrong by Ben Goertzel

[Ben Zaiboc]

On 04/10/2025 19:56, John Clark wrote:
>
>
> On Sat, Oct 4, 2025 at 6:24 AM Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat 
> <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
>
>     /> I'm now wondering if even some western nations might not enact
>     legislation to outlaw uploading, once it becomes possible. It wouldn't
>     surprise me, there are plenty of people who regard it as tantamount to
>     suicide, even among people who regard themselves as transhumanists or
>     materialists. It wouldn't be hard for a government to conclude that it
>     should be illegal (or that uploads don't count as human, and don't
>     have
>     any rights** at all)./
>
>
> *The thing is, you're assuming thatwhen uploading not only becomes 
> possible but is also practical and inexpensive enough for wide scale 
> use, human beings will still be the ones in the driver's seat, and I 
> don't believe that will be the case. *
> *
> *
> *John K Clark *

Good point. I hope you're right.

This also relates to your question about UBI, I think.
The dramatic increase in productivity we're expecting could enable UBI 
globally (leaving other considerations like political issues aside), and 
if this coincides with mass availability of uploading, it wouldn't just 
enable a comfortable upper middle-class lifestyle, it would enable an 
unimaginably luxurious lifestyle for everyone who wanted it (provided 
they are an upload), and a very comfortable lifestyle for all biological 
humans. /Provided the income from the increased productivity was 
distributed fairly to everyone./ Whether that's likely, and under what 
circumstances, is a different matter. Again, I reckon human beings being 
displaced from the driver's seat would be a minimum prerequisite.

All of this speculation suffers from the same problem as almost all 
fiction: Looking at a single application of whatever marvellous 
technology is being talked about, and not considering synergistic 
effects. Basically, we're speculating about what lies beyond the 
singularity, which we know is pretty pointless, except maybe as a mental 
preparation for massive change (which will still surprise all of us, one 
way or another). It is important, though, to know what you want, just in 
case there's any chance of being able to choose.

-- 
Ben
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