Resources for Chapter 1: Humanity’s Special Power | If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies

Resources for Chapter 1

Humanity’s Special Power

This is the online supplement to Chapter 1 of If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies. Below, we’ll cover common questions and expand on topics from the book.

Some topics that aren’t covered below, because they’re covered in Chapter 1 of the book, include:

What is this “intelligence” stuff?
Is it really possible for machines to become smarter than humans?
Isn’t there a practical ceiling on how smart something can get?

Isn’t there something special about humans that mere machines could never emulate?

It seems unlikely, and not especially relevant. 2 min read

Are you saying machines will become conscious?

Not necessarily, and this seems like a separate topic. 5 min read

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Resources for Chapter 1

Humanity’s Special Power

Is intelligence a meaningful concept?

Is “human-level intelligence” a meaningful concept?

Doesn’t intelligence consist of multiple skills?

Isn’t intelligence overrated?

Is “general intelligence” a meaningful concept?

Is “intelligence” a simple scalar quantity?

Will AI cross critical thresholds and take off?

Isn’t ChatGPT already a general intelligence?

How smart could a superintelligence get?

But aren’t there big obstacles to reaching superintelligence?

Isn’t it impossible to predict the behavior of a superintelligence?

Won’t machines be fundamentally uncreative, or otherwise fatally flawed?

Isn’t there something special about humans that mere machines could never emulate?

Are you saying machines will become conscious?

Extended Discussion

More on Intelligence as Prediction and Steering

The Shallowness of Current AIs

Appreciating the Power of Intelligence