Creating superintelligence without AGI

post by Antb (darustc4) · 2022-10-17T19:01:24.358Z · LW · GW · 3 comments

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I am a computer scientist with some background in biology and neuroscience that discovered LW and the problem of AI alignment less than a year ago.

Since then I have read many articles on the matter and I have come to understand that alignment is potentially the most severe challenge humanity is facing, and probably ever will. And so I have decided to dedicate my masters and Ph.D. to researching methods of counteracting the negative (lethal) impact a misaligned transformative AI can have, as I have given up on the idea that AGI can be safely aligned in the short timeframe that we have (<8 years, I estimate), especially considering the reckless progress that is being made in the field, and the obscurity of all of it.

As the title says, I plan on researching the possibility to negate an AGI takeover by resorting to transhumanism, that is, resorting to physically augmenting the minds of humans to hopefully have enough cognitive power to not be trivially overpowered by artificial superintelligences. I understand that this sounds ludicrously grandiose and that it will most likely amount to nothing more than yet another failed attempt at stopping AGI, but I surely will not stay twiddling my fingers as the world crashes down in flames, for I believe that anyone capable of using their knowledge to aid humanity in times of need should do so.

It is also a possibility that a human individual or collective with superintelligence could be comparably dangerous to a misaligned AGI, but I believe we stand much better chances at surviving that threat as there would be at least some "humanity" programmed into their brains and, therefore, would not converge into unthinkable horrors by default (although it could easily end up in some sort of dictatorship, but there is a price to everything I guess).

My question is, could you recommend articles, papers, books, research projects and notable figures that are related to this line of work? That is, any modern and relevant research related to Brain-Machine Interfacing for extending the capabilities of the mind with hardware, or Brain-Brain Interfacing for shared cognition.

I am open to any criticism on my ideas and would be willing to redirect my efforts to a more effective field of research if they were to be too absurd or unattainable given modern technology and moral standards. And would also be delighted to join any research group that were to be interested in these matters. Thanks.

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