How to Prevent the AI Apocalypse

1. Reciprocal Accountability:

• Brin proposes empowering individuals to hold each other accountable, even AIs. This means making them compete and report on each other’s actions. 

2. Implementation Challenges:

• While the idea sounds good, putting it into action won’t be easy. Brin shared his plan at a conference, where it received a positive response. 

3. Brin’s Background:

• Brin isn’t just a writer; he’s also a scientist with a PhD in astronomy. He’s known for his advocacy of privacy and transparency, ideas he’s been discussing since the 1990s. 

4. Learning from History:

• Brin believes we can learn from history to tackle the AI threat. Just as societies have prevented power from accumulating, we must do the same with AI. 

5. Dealing with Powerful Entities:

• Brin humorously compares lawyers to hyper-intelligent predators. He suggests that just as people hire lawyers to deal with legal matters, we might need AIs to handle other AIs. 

6. Individuality of AIs:

• For AIs to police each other, they must have a sense of individuality and consequences for their actions. They need to be motivated by rewards and deterred by punishments. 

7. Incentives for Cooperation:

• Offering rewards such as more resources or processing power can encourage AIs to work together against rogue elements. 

8. Technological Solutions:

• Brin proposes keeping a core component of AI, a “soul kernel,” in a physical location with a blockchain-based registration. This could help identify and regulate AIs. 

9. Potential Pitfalls:

• However, implementing such a system globally would be challenging. There’s also the risk of losing control over outlawed AIs. 

10. Alternative Approaches:

• Brin dismisses the idea of enforcing Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics, suggesting they wouldn’t work in practice. Instead, he emphasizes the importance of conveying the benefits of cooperation to AIs. 

11. Conveying Civilization’s Legacy:

• Brin underscores the significance of reminding AIs that they owe their existence to human civilization. Just as we stand on the shoulders of those who came before us, AI stands on ours. 

In conclusion, Brin’s proposal offers a potential strategy to prevent AI from spiraling out of control. While it poses challenges, it’s an innovative approach worth considering in our quest for AI safety.