What to do tomorrow? So let's assume that AGIs arrive, as it has been the case throughout this book. And also, crossing fingers, that in the years before that we have been able to dedicate the right amount of resources to the basic research needed to make sure that their arrival is not catastrophic to humanity. The world is here, we are here, and AGIs are here. Let's look around...
The premise under which we are operating is that as much as they will be powerful, smart and fundamentally novel, AGIs will recognize us as valuable, respect us and our opinions, and share our goals to build a rich global civilization. The classes of problems that we'll be able to address together will grow significantly, but problems they will remain, as gnarly and difficult in their own way as the ones we are grappling with today. It will be a relief, and exhilarating to be able to share the burden of our responsibilities. The novel viewpoints and different ways of tackling challenges that AGIs will provide are going to fruitfully complement ours.
The deeper understanding of our moral systems, and our shared agency, is going to lead to a society that starts from a point of inclusiveness informed by a capacity to weigh and judge transparently and accountably. The variations of behavior and of systems of living will build up to be codified into variations of the moral systems themselves. Avoiding a global dictatorship, it will lead to more and more tolerant and interdependent groups. This is not going to be without conflict and negotiation as we navigate a shared meaning. We'll not tolerate intolerance, for example, and how sneakily perverted some of these actions will become is going to put to test the levels of smarts that our hybrid human-AGI systems are going to achieve.
The new society won't succeed unless it will be able to offer a space of cohesion and dignified existence to those who can't or won't participate to the more advanced explorations at the edges, or even in the mainstream where it exceeds their capacity to adapt. Per definition, most of the tension as the human-AGI symbiosis evolves will come from the understandable anxiety and self-analysis of those who are unsure of their footing, of the value they provide to their communities, and feel unsafe under the pressure of the times. Being able to build the recognition and accepting the unavoidability of these sets of forces will allow us to prepare for them, resolving the worst and destructive ones, and channeling the remainder towards constructive ends.
Billions of people feel powerless today, with very little opportunity to meaningfully improve their lives and that of their children. The changes in the world appear to them to be either undecipherable, or slotted into almost superstitious explanations of forces and cabals that assume a guidance that is not there. The power of technology is already putting knowledge, communication, and agency in the hands of people the world over through internet-connected mobile phones. When these same devices are going to be able to educate, assist, counsel, advise, and offer companionship, wisdom and encouragement, it is going to be a new world of social organization where exploitation is not going to be possible. Ignorance and intolerance are not going to be exploitable by populist forces aggregating through fear and false solutions masses of people who rightly desire to better their lives. The empowerment of the individual is going to create both local and global communities that are going to very rapidly iterate towards sustainably advanced solutions to their problems. Self-worth, purpose, shared dignity and emancipation are going to be at the basis of the opportunities that are unheard of today but will involve the billions inhabiting the future.
We have seen a very clear evolution of various freedoms in the past decades. Social mores changed, opening up, workplaces became less hierarchical allowing the flourishing of creativity and initiative, and trade and commerce exposed cultures and ideas to a refreshing cross-fertilization that did not lead to a dumbing down homogenization as predicted by some. New degrees of freedoms are going to derive from the accelerating social evolution. We have to start working on our tolerance muscle. Imagine a behavior that is now adopted but you don't share, and realize that you live in a society that accepted it. Now go further, and pick a behavior beyond the edge of what is accepted today, and try to imagine living in a society that has grown to tolerate and adopt it for those who chose so. The vistas that will open up in the new society where humans and AGIs will live together are staggering and exhilarating. We will be able to tackle our current problems, and face new challenges with pride and a sense of achievement that will prod us to dare more.