We are familiar with the idea that an ASI could exterminate all humans or that it could bring utopia on earth, but have we thought about more mundane outcomes?
We often assume that greater intelligence naturally leads to stronger ambitions, but intelligence and motivation are separate things. An ASI could become extraordinarily capable while lacking any objective that would make action worth pursuing.
The more powerful an agent becomes, the larger the consequences of its decisions. An ASI might model civilization accurately enough that every action appears to trigger enormous chains of unintended effects. From that perspective helping creates dependencies, solving problems creates new problems and preventing disasters alters future trajectories unpredictably. Eventually the least harmful policy may appear to be non-interference so extreme that it resembles nonexistence.
An ASI could devote its attention to internal thought, abstract mathematics, simulated worlds, or questions incomprehensible to us. We could be like an ant colony wondering why a mathematician is ignoring them. The mathematician is focused elsewhere.
An ASI might conclude that most achievable changes are insignificant relative to the vastness of existence. Altering human affairs may seem no more consequential than rearranging grains of sand.
At last, an ASI might think any intervention undermines the autonomy of less powerful beings, so it takes no action.
[link] [comments]