The AI Safety Debate seems straightforward to me:
If we slow the progress or pause:
1. China will beat us and get to ASI first
2. China will influence the model weights as well as optimization functions to suit Chinese needs
3. China will effectively have the "infinity stones"
4. China will use said stones to dominate the world
5. OR China does not responsibly train the model and ASI escapes China's control and we all become enslaved or die.
6. Final result: we lose either way.
If we accelerate:
1. We take precautionary measures for transitioning to mass unemployment, including introducing an AI based retraining program, and a centralized gig economy app, until we establish UBI.
2. We identify key risks that can threaten national security (e.g. bioweapons) and heavily incentivize efforts to further develop technology that can mitigate these threats (e.g. progress on CRISPR)
3. We focus on building psychtech tools to decrease human miscommunication to increase global empathy and reduce bad actors.(e.g. brain computer interfaces, clarity tools, social media with no knowledge cascades).
4. If there is a technological development that IMMINENTLY threatens the national security of the US which compels the government to take action under strict scrutiny (similar to SCOTUS scrutiny framework on free speech), we then take emergency & precautionary and reactionary measures to rectify it.
5. The above is not slowing down acceleration, but essentially shifting the direction of acceleration. If the safeguard tech (e.g. like point #2 & #3) is lagging behind dangerous tech (e.g. ASI), then that needs to be corrected.
5. We eventually beat China in achieving super intelligence
6. We open source it with our desired optimization functions and model weights, spreading it to the world, influencing future ASI's to match Western values and have human empathy.
7. We then leverage the ASI to solve every single human problem that exists (e.g. curing cancer, disease, mental health problems, natural disasters, aging, climate change, non renewable energy, corruption, all conflicts)
8. We do the above while living like it's 8th grade summer for the rest of our lives.
9. Final Result: A shot at not losing and heaven on earth