Preparing Humanity for coexistence with Superintelligence
2nd December 2019
Lecture and Discussion with Tony Czarnecki, presenting his forthcoming book:
Democracy for Human Federation – Coexisting with Superintelligence
(external link to Amazon)
Respondent: David Wood, Chair of London Futurists and Co-Founder of the Transhumanist Party
Videos of the presentation and the response:
The faults in the democratic system have been with us for quite some time. At the same time, the crisis of democracy coincides with the increasing danger arising from a number of man-made existential risks, such as a global warming, biotechnology or a global nuclear war, which can happen at any time. Among the biggest risks facing Humanity in the next two decades is Artificial Intelligence (AI), and in particular its mature form Superintelligence – also called Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). This is the type of AI that will be thousands of times more intelligent than all humans, and which could wipe out the human species either by a malicious intent or because of an erroneous design.
So, how could humans save themselves from such a potentially perilous future? The overall solution lies in a deep reform of democracy and in changing our view from an insular, national perspective and instead focus on the Humanity’s survival. We need a new system of democracy for two reasons. The first one is to help us navigate the next several decades safely by being united in a Human Federation created with new principles of democracy. The second one is to create Superintelligence that would inherit our Universal Values and our democratic principles so that it becomes our friend rather than an adversary.
However, to have any meaningful impact, a deep reform of democracy must happen really quickly, by about 2030, while we may still retain control over the maturing Superintelligence. We have no time to create a new global organization with sufficient economic, technological and military powers that could initially act as a de facto World Government. The most realistic option seems to be to convert and existing organization, which could be being gradually converted into a Human Federation.
Tony Czarnecki will argue that despite the current adversary tide in the European Union, it is this organization, selected out of 10 possible candidates, which after being converted into the European Federation, has the best chance to become the foothold for the future Human Federation.
About Tony Czarnecki
Tony Czarnecki
Founder and Managing Partner, Sustenis Ltd
Tony Czarnecki is an economist and a member of Chatham House, deeply engaged in global politics and the reform of democracy. He is also an active member of London Futurists. His very wide interests spreading into politics, technology, science and economics, gave him the necessary insight for searching for the solutions to minimizing Humanity’s existential risks. That was the subject of his previous book: “Who could save Humanity from Superintelligence?” In his new book ‘Democracy for Human Federation – Coexisting with Superintelligence”, he focuses on the scope of reforms needed for democracy to withstand the Humanity’s challenges to coexist with Superintelligence in the very near future.
