Existential Hope Drop #15: Daron Acemoglu, MIT
On New Paths For Human-Technology Synergy
July 2023
In this Hope Drop we welcome renowned academic and author, Daron Acemoglu, Institute professor and Economist at MIT.
Drawing upon his rich experiences and his forthcoming book Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity, Acemoglu navigates the complex landscape of technological progress.
Explore his visions of the future in this podcast episode, and through this AI artwork inspired by his hopeful vision.
Daron's recommended resources:
Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson
Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity by Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
The Tyranny of Merit: What’s Become of the Common Good? by Michael Sandel
Eucatastrophe: A Reimagined Relationship Between Humanity & Technology
In this hopeful scenario, technology is a tool that helps us, not replaces us. It supports our diverse skills - from gardening to computer design - and makes them even better, without taking away their value.
Instead of seeing humans as error-prone and needing to be corrected, we view ourselves as resourceful beings with unique talents. Technology is there to help us be more productive and contribute more to society, not to sideline us.
Our society values all contributions, not just those from big tech companies. We use technology to protect our democracy and ensure everyone's voice is heard in important decisions about our future.
This future isn't about replacing people with machines, but about using machines to enhance our capabilities. It's about a fair, inclusive, and prosperous society where technology serves us, not the other way around.
About the artist
This artwork portrays an envisioned universal constructor. It was created by Minh Nguyen (@menhguin), using Midjourney, Photoshop and random ADHD-induced art hobbies. Minh is the cofounder of FridaysForFuture Singapore, worked on a peer support subreddit used by 80% of teenagers in Singapore, and has done policy advocacy since high school. After interning at Nonlinear, he's exploring AI Safety (AIS) advocacy, launching an AIS online university and startup ideas that aid AIS research. Minh is an optimist because "if not, work would be way too depressing".
Related Xhope Library Recommendations
Artificial Intelligence, Values, and Alignment - Iason Gabriel. On AI Alignment but discusses the problem of different people with different values, and how Contractualism, Rights, Rawl’s Veil of Ignorance, or Social Choice Theory may help us reach overlapping consensus.
Thinking Fast & Slow - Daniel Kahneman. A classic contrasting fast, instinctive, heuristic thinking with slow, reasoned thought, including when we use which one.
Antifragile - Nassim Taleb. An appeal to design our systems such that they get stronger under pressure and can resist low probability scenarios of devastating consequences as described in The Black Swan. One way to do that: Include incentive structures that make people have more Skin in the Game, another book by Taleb.
NEWS FROM THE XHOPE ECOSYSTEM
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Cyborgism: Blending Human & AI
This LessWrong post suggests a new strategy to further alignment research. It invites the reader to explore the idea of developing "cyborg" systems that amplify human cognitive abilities, without outsourcing work to autonomous agents. It's an interesting perspective on how we could use AI to our advantage while addressing potential risks.
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"There's An AI For That" is a platform that consolidates and categorizes the vast landscape of artificial intelligence tools available in the digital realm. With a remarkable inventory, they provide the most comprehensive database of AI technologies and tools listed.
Learn more about our work at existentialhope.com.