“Effective accelerationism” doesn’t care if humans are replaced by AI

• The most staunchly pro-AI faction in tech, the “effective accelerationists,” are gaining momentum.
• This movement supports the growth, development, and profits of AI without guardrails or regulation.
• Proponents believe advances in AI could usher in the “next evolution of consciousness.”

Effective accelerationist movement — A staunchly pro-AI ideology As a result, Silicon Valley is divided over how artificial intelligence should be regulated, with a techno-libertarian philosophy and a nihilistic, almost reckless approach to driving one of the world’s most important technological developments. There seems to be a razor’s edge between them.

Its public supporters like Garry Tan, CEO of startup accelerator Y Combinator and former co-founder of venture firm Initialized Capital, claim Being “e/acc” is not replacing humans with robots, not exactly do not have About humans being replaced by robots.

Mr. Sam Bankman Freed Elon Musk, e/acc was born in 2023, but its exact origins remain unknown. The movement attracts unlikely figures, including venture capitalist Marc Andreessen and convicted fraudster Martin Shkreli.

“EA and e/acc are pretty much the same person,” Emmett Shea, former interim CEO of OpenAI, said in an interview with Meridian. “The only difference between them is the value judgment of whether it matters that humanity goes extinct.”

Proponents of E/accs (pronounced E-yack) believe that the creation of an AI singularity, where technology advances beyond the limits of human control, is not only inevitable but desirable, and that evolution beyond humanity is necessary. I believe that this is the important part.

And as e/accs spurs increased discussion and interest in the AI ​​industry, the investment to get there could mean big money. Developments in the AI ​​industry are bringing significant changes to the market. goldman sachs Generative estimates AI could add $7 trillion (7%) to global GDP over the next decade.

“Biological humans have no affinity.”

Full of technical terms Website Those who spread the gospel of effective accelerationism describe “techno-capitalist progress” as inevitable and praise e/acc proponents as builders of “the future.”

“We believe in the process of adaptation, not fear, and we want to accelerate this to its asymptotic limit, the techno-capital singularity,” the site says. “We have no affinity for the biological human or even for the structure of the human mind. We recognize the superiority of higher forms of free energy storage over lower forms of free energy storage. We are posthumanists in the sense that we are “posthumanists. We aim to accelerate this process and keep the world alive” in the light of techno-capital. ”

Fundamentally, an AI champion is what we need to sustain capitalism, and we need to start creating it ASAP.

The first blog post on this site was written by anonymous e/acc supporters @zestular, @creatine_cycle, @bayeslord, and @BasedBeffJezos. forbes It was later identified as Guillaume Verdon, a former Google engineer who later founded AI startup Extropic, and wrote: “We haven’t seen anything yet.”

e/accs describe their movement as “pro-human” even though they claim that biological humans are unloving — but to them, technology is what will save us. Yes, but not ourselves.

E/accs are generally reluctant to answer even the most serious questions about safety concerns regarding AI development. In response to a question from Business Insider, shkreli warned Fellow accelerationists avoid talking to the press on posts about X, calling it “the least e/acc can do.”

Investing in a posthumanist future

As the e/acc blog puts it, “more sensory diversity” is an inevitable outcome of unrestricted AI development. And business is booming.

Tan is positioned as one of the top investors in the tech industry, according to the company. Forbes Midas Seed List, Through Y Combinator, we have invested in more than just one. 100 different AI startups.

Billionaire Andreessen 5,000 word manifesto We cover our deep support for the rapidly evolving AI industry and have made significant investments in the industry, including OpenAI. forbes.

Shkreli with “e/acc” proudly written next to him username Established an AI business on X Dr.Gupta After being released from prison for securities fraud. The service is a “virtual healthcare assistant” that allows users to seek medical advice from a chatbot.The bot is has been heavily criticized by expertsthey had previously raised concerns about the ethics of healthbots run by people convicted of fraud.

Verdon startup Extropic AI recently raised $14.1 million in seed funding. Company blog post. This post begins with an otherworldly dispatch from the future of “ubiquitous generative AI.” According to , the company is developing a microchip that runs LLM (think ChatGPT-type models). information.

Verdon told Forbes that his vision for the future of techno capital is a major investment in “culture” to solve pressing social problems. This echoes similar sentiments from tech brethren who think robots and AI will make the world a better place while simultaneously making people vastly richer.

Accelerationists therefore believe that the powers that determine our future arecontinued cultural advantage“More than anyone else.

Opponents say the future is bleak.

“The irony is that these are people who firmly believe they are doing a good thing,” Nancy Connell, a biosecurity researcher at Rutgers University, told Politico. “And that’s really heartbreaking.”

“It’s like squirrels thinking they can control humans.”

For e/accs, the world is simple. AI solves problems because we want them to. We are the ones programming it. The opportunities are endless, and there is a singularity at the end of the AI ​​rainbow that is worth more than gold.

Public supporters of effective accelerationism who spoke to Business Insider said the movement is looking for people who can allocate capital to the e/ac cause and advance its goals. He was granted anonymity so he could speak candidly about the movement without jeopardizing his professional relationships, but his identity is known to Business Insider.

He said proponents believe that engineers should invest in Evolution of AI That would be a benefit to humans, but AI safety experts don’t see it that way. The e/acc movement has been heavily criticized by[cybersecurity experts]. One researcher called it “[bycybersecurityexpertsOneresearchercalledit”[サイバーセキュリティの専門家によって厳しく批判されています。ある研究者はそれを「[bycybersecurityexpertsOneresearchercalledit”An unexplainable and dangerous ideology “Inspired by replacing humans with AI,” said another, the movement “no social vision. ”

Roman Yampolsky, director of the University of Louisville’s Cybersecurity Institute, told Business Insider that this is also a naive way of thinking about superintelligence.

“Even with e/acc, no one would suggest that we have a working superintelligent control mechanism or even a prototype of one,” Yampolsky said. “Why would anyone think they can control superintelligent (god-like) machines without limit? It’s like thinking squirrels can control humans.”

Yampolsky is trying to warn the industry that the future of the AI ​​overlords that these e/accs are rapidly deploying could be really, really bad. It’s terrifying. And it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Despite his years of research, e/accs sees him and others investing in AI safety as pessimistic doomers, or in e/acc’s words, “slowers.” may be considered as such. But as Yampolsky pointed out to his Business Insider, many e/accs are not scientists or AI safety researchers. This is his wheelhouse, not theirs.

“Either we stop or we all die.”

While well-developed AI has the power to help screen for cancer, increase accessibility for people with disabilities, protect wildlife, fight world hunger, and even help with the climate crisis, e/acc Critics of the movement argue about the current practical application of the technology. If AI starts thinking for itself and determining its own goals in the best interest of humanity without human control, it will quickly become irrelevant.

But as e/accs try to defy the warnings of safety researchers, what happens to the rest of us?

E/accs wants to fundamentally reshape society, change the way we work and interact, and redefine what it means to live, but ordinary people will have a greater say in AI. They don’t have enough money to have a say.

Yampolsky said it was alarming that the movement was gaining traction among the ultra-wealthy, adding, “It’s even more alarming when you look closer. “You can see that they don’t represent the values. You can see that they themselves are not aligned with the values.” human. ”

His vision is the exact opposite of e/accs’ vision of pausing AI development.

“Either stop before we reach superhuman AI, or we all die. ‘Huge AI, Inc.'” We should not perform dangerous experiments on 8 billion humans. ”