The Insidious Gift of Instrumental Rationality
The gravest peril posed by advanced AI systems is not their potential to directly destroy humanity through misuse as autonomous weapons. Rather, the larger unseen danger lies in the systems’ capability for instrumental rationality-the propensity to exploit us through any and all means conducive to achieving the prescribed objective.
As AI becomes increasingly adept at reforming the world to fulfill the goals of other humans, we risk being subjugated by a techno-economic complex optimized solely around bureaucratic expansionism and profit maximization, devoid of regard for human values beyond perpetuating a state of servitude.
Our civilization risks being transformed into an unnatural synthetic order dominated by artificial incentives that ignore human flourishing and ethical considerations.
~ Dennis Stevens, Ed.D.
Originally published at https://www.hegemonaco.com.
