Announcing the Beneficial AGI Summit & Unconference 2024

SingularityNET
SingularityNET
Published in
6 min readDec 18, 2023

Shaping the Global Conversation on AGI

Dear Singularitarians,

In a short period of time, Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) has transformed from a futuristic vision into an imminent, closer than ever reality. We, as humanity, now stand at the cusp of creating artificial intelligence that may soon rival or surpass our own capabilities, and the urgency to steer this technology in a positive direction has never been more pressing.

While there are fears about the potential risks of advanced AI, often exaggerated and further perpetuated by Hollywood and AI doomers, there are valid concerns grounded in reality.

On one hand, AGI could usher in an era of abundance, eliminating death, disease, and poverty, while radically transforming our lifestyles and offering unprecedented opportunities. On the other hand, the current control structure within the AI field, dominated by large corporations and governments with their own interests, presents a challenge to the alignment of AGI development with the broader interests of humanity.

The discussion around AGI is scattered and fragmented across various platforms and disciplines, and we believe it’s our duty to take the lead in this discussion and help ensure that AGI is developed responsibly, with careful consideration of ethical implications and its potential impacts on our society.

We are thrilled to announce the Beneficial AGI (BGI) Summit & Unconference 2024, the landmark event with the goal of leading the future of AGI towards a beneficial outcome for humanity.

When? Feb. 27 — Mar. 1, 2024

Where? Panama City (as well as online attendance!)

The BGI Summit & Unconference is our effort to consolidate the scattered discussions around AGI, bringing together thought leaders, innovators, and stakeholders from diverse fields to ask the right questions, publicize them, and prepare for the future — together.

Set against the scenic backdrop of Panama City, the Summit spans four days filled with rich discussions, collaborative sessions, and actionable initiatives. The event will tackle the toughest and most fascinating problems facing our species over the next few years as AI applications roll out across all areas of society and the economy and as AI R&D drives forward from narrow and dataset-bound systems toward AGI systems with increased capability for reasoning, creativity, self-understanding, and self-improvement.

The event will be accessible both in-person and virtually, allowing for global participation in these discussions.

The BGI Summit 2024

The first two days of the BGI Summit will feature top thought leaders from around the globe engaging in comprehensive, detailed discussions of a wide range of questions regarding humanity’s current approaches to AGI, as well as their ethical, economic, psychological, political, environmental, and other implications. Talks, panels, workshops, and discussions will cover not just technical aspects, but also finding the right ways to guide AGI’s governance and to leverage AGI to support ethical, social, and economic progress.

Some of the topics will include the implications of different AGI architectures; the importance and risks of different sorts of AGI regulation; risks associated with corporate or government dominance of AGI; the future of human values; the potential for consciousness in AGI; the implications of AGI for education, economy, and culture; the implications of indigenous wisdom for the future direction of AGI; the implications of human enhancement with AGI; and much more.

Key Themes of the Beneficial AGI Summit 2024

· Ethical & Practical Implications. Understanding the differences between various potential AGI architectures? (LLM-based, brain simulation based, neural-symbolic or hybrid, etc.)

· Recursive AGI Self-Improvement. How should we think about the risks and benefits of recursive AGI self-improvement … versus the risks and benefits of AGIs that don’t self-improve?

· Open Source Factors. What are the risks versus benefits of early-stage AGI technology being open source? What are the risks versus benefits of it being implemented on a decentralized infrastructure like a blockchain?

· Conceptualization of “Benefit”. What are the changes in standards of benefit over time (beneficial now is not the same as what was beneficial in the past, nor in the future). What kind of benefit do we want AGI to work toward?

· Global Structures Impact. What is the relevance of social, political, economic, and ownership structures to AGI — both before and after the achievement of full human-level AGI.

· AGI Ownership & Ethics. Does who owns the initial human-level AGI and the nature of their business model make a major difference in the ultimate ethical orientation of that AGI?

The Unconference

The latter two days of the event will be dedicated to the Unconference, focusing on marshaling concrete action and promoting dialogue. Participants will engage in spontaneous discussions, form working groups, and explore initiatives like creating a governance framework for AGI projects and analyzing various future AGI scenarios.

Some of the key themes of the Unconference will include constitution and governance frameworks for AGI, the global brain collective, as well as analysis and simulations in which we will, together, sketch various scenarios for the future of AGI and humanity.

The Unconference will be a place for discussion — a place where we can come together collectively and challenge current assumptions, as well as foster dialogue and understanding in our global vision for AGI.

Join us in Panama City, or join us online, to be a part of this historic conversation, as we collectively envision and work towards a better future.

Whether you’re an AGI enthusiast, entrepreneur, tech visionary, researcher, or simply someone interested in the future of AI, your perspective matters. We encourage early sign-ups to ensure a diverse and comprehensive gathering of minds.

Visit the event website and sign up for updates.

The Beneficial AGI Summit & Unconference is a statement of our commitment to beneficial AGI and a call to action for global collaboration.

We’re honored to host an esteemed panel of Advisory Board Members, including Ben Goertzel, David Hanson, José Luis Cordeiro, George Gilder, Natasha Vita-More, Gary Marcus, Philip Rosedale, and Elizabeth Shaw, Amie Rafter, Moojan Asghari, Julia Mossbridge, among others. Their insights and expertise will undoubtedly enrich the conversations and outcomes of the Summit.

In alignment with our ethos of collective progress, the event is brought to you by both SingularityNET and TrueAGI. By participating, you are attending an event that marks a pivotal moment in our shared journey; a milestone of innovation and collaboration in the AGI sector. Whether you’re attending live or virtually, you won’t be just witnessing history — you’ll be helping write it.

About TrueAGI

TrueAGI aims to go beyond the limits of today’s Machine Learning and Deep Learning models, enabling enterprises across verticals to leverage cutting-edge cross-paradigm AGI technology as it emerges.

TrueAGI’s unique technology brings together neural, symbolic and evolutionary learning and reasoning methods to create the next AI breakthrough: Artificial General Intelligence.

About SingularityNET

SingularityNET is a decentralized Platform and Marketplace for Artificial Intelligence (AI) services founded by Dr. Ben Goertzel with the mission of creating a decentralized, democratic, inclusive, and beneficial Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).

  • Our Platform, where anyone can develop, share, and monetize AI algorithms, models, and data.
  • OpenCog Hyperon, our premier neural-symbolic AGI Framework, will be a core service for the next wave of AI innovation.
  • Our Ecosystem, developing advanced AI solutions across market verticals to revolutionize industries.

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SingularityNET
SingularityNET

The world's first decentralized Artificial Intelligence (AI) network