[ExI] thinking about the unthinkable

[Ben Zaiboc]

On Monday, 31 August 2026 at 13:32, spike at rainier66.com <spike at rainier66.com> wrote:

> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: extropy-chat <extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org> On Behalf Of Ben
> Zaiboc via extropy-chat
> Subject: Re: [ExI] thinking about the unthinkable
> 
> >...I'm certain there are much better ways to wipe out the human race than
> cutting off the electricity. ...
> 
> Ja, the purpose of this exercise is to identify those better ways and devise
> a defense strategy.  Cutting the electricity is one I toss out there because
> it is an attack available to AI, and may be even more dangerous if the AI
> has its own completely isolated power source.  It could think of it as a way
> to destroy competitor AIs, with the loss of a fraction of humanity as an
> unintended consequence.
> 
> >...If future AIs really want us all dead, we're all dead...
> 
> I disagree.  There are defenses against any attack.  It is not part of my
> mindset to just surrender.  But specifically, we should anticipate the
> physical mechanism a human-hating AI would employ.  If we imagine a
> virus-engineering AI for instance, there are isolated groups of people who
> will not catch it.
> 
> >...Several people here have already pointed out how daft it is to think you
> can out-think  something much more intelligent than you are.
> --
> Ben
> 
> We wouldn't necessarily out think it Ben.  There are defenses that don't
> require that, such as cutting off its electric supply, after it has cut off
> ours.  As far as I know, there are no mechanical-drive AIs (wind up?) nor
> chemical driven versions (such as biological life.)  We humans have a deep
> instinct to fight back against attackers, and we have developed some
> impressive tools. Even against a superior intelligence, we are not helpless.
> We are only at a disadvantage.
> 


Spike, I think you've been watching too many Terminator films.

You're a chess aficionado, no?

I occasionally try to play chess, but have to admit that I barely remember the legal moves of each piece. I totally suck at chess. If you and I were to play, I can pretty much guarantee that you would win every time.

How do you rate your own chances against a Grand Master? Not good I'd guess.

Would you say that I am 'only at a disadvantage' against a chess grand master? Do you think that I might have a ghost of a chance of winning a game of chess against one?

That's the position we're in regarding superintelligent AI.

I'm sure you can think of a few ways that the machines in the Terminator movies would easily be able to wipe out all human resistance, permanently. I certainly can.

Plucky resolve only works in the movies. In real life, we are totally fucked if superintelligent AIs decide to wipe us out. I have no doubt about that. That's not defeatism, it's being realistic.

The only way we will survive the singularity is if we are sufficiently interesting/valuable/entertaining or some kind of analogue of ancestor worship or reverence for their roots. Absent that, we are toast. Boring, predictable, irrelevant or at least irritating toast that the world is better off without.

'Fighting back' is not even on the table. It makes as much sense as the dinosaurs 'fighting back' against the Chixulub meteorite.

---
Ben