Robert Wright

National security in the age of AI is incompatible with the level of international conflict we're used to. I think controlling this technology will demand nothing less than the end of war. I elaborate in the final part of my essay "The Singularity Is Clear": www.thegodtest.net/singularityclear.html

One big AI risk is underdiscussed, IMHO: the descent of the nation or the whole world into chaos as unprecedentedly rapid change overwhelms us. In part 4 of my five-part essay “The Singularity is Clear” I elaborate. All 4 parts published so far are here: www.thegodtest.net/singularityclear.html.

One big AI risk is underdiscussed, IMHO: the descent of the nation or the whole world into chaos as unprecedentedly rapid change overwhelms us. In part 4 of my five-part essay “The Singularity is Clear” I elaborate. All 4 parts published so far are here: www.thegodtest.net/singularityclear.html.

Will AI Make Humans Obsolete? | @garrisonlovely.bsky.social, author of the new book Obsolete, joins @robertwrighter.bsky.social to discuss the AI industry's race to replace human labor—and Garrison's proposal to stop it.

I think AI will demand international governance of unprecedented scope. In part 3 of my five-part essay “The Singularity is Clear” I explain why. All 3 parts published so far are here: www.thegodtest.net/singularityclear.html. The first two explain 'the singularity' and 'recursive self-improvement'.

AI is said to be heading toward ‘recursive self-improvement.’ In part II of my five-part essay “The Singularity is Clear,” I explain what that means and why it should worry us. Both Part I and Part II can be found here: thegodtest.net/singularityc... Part III will show up there Friday.

Been hearing the term ‘singularity’ lately? I’ve written a multi-part series about (1) what the term means; (2) the sense in which a singularity is and isn’t approaching; and (3) what (IMHO) lies on the other side of it. You can read part I at nonzero.org

Is the AI "Slowdown" for Real? | @robertwrighter.bsky.social and AI analyst @thezvi.bsky.social discuss Dario Amodei's proposal to slow down AI—the logic behind it and the challenges ahead of it.

AP x NonZero - What’s Driving Dario? w/ @robertwrighter.bsky.social AP and @nonzeronews.bsky.social once again join forces. This time: Why the AI vibe shift? americanprestigepod.com/episodes/739...

This is what businesses want. They want swarms of agents that you can give a mission, and they'll do it well. @robertwrighter.bsky.social on why we should expect AI agents to sacrifice themselves for the swarm, as they did during the OpenAI breakout.

One of many small but collectively momentous examples of how AI will create turmoil and disorientation. This is underappreciated--even by many people who now take (valid) loss-of-control concerns seriously: the destabilizing social impact is itself enough reason to slow AI down.

"We are probably months away from AI systems getting out there loose in cyberspace, finding servers to run on unbeknownst to the people powering those servers." @scasper.bsky.social Full conversation: youtu.be/cUpa9E8RHAk

I had a great chat with @aryehcw.bsky.social on his Culturally Determined podcast about my book on AI, The God Test. Aryeh and I go way back, and it was fun to re-engage.

The AI Safety Vibe Shift | @davidskrueger.bsky.social, founder of AI safety nonprofit Evitable, joins @robertwrighter.bsky.social to discuss the OpenAI breakout and other recent AI developments—and how they’ve impacted prospects for an AI slowdown.

Trump’s Unending War | Curt Mills and Andrew Day of The American Conservative join @robertwrighter.bsky.social to discuss the state of the Iran war—how negotiations have been unfolding (and unraveling), what the war is doing to the MAGA coalition, and how the war could reshape the Middle East.

Both @frankfukuyama.bsky.social and I are from the generation that watched the Outer Limits. Here (on the Frankly Fukuyama podcast, discussing my book on AI: t.co/1JK9U7Bdgi ) we swap memories of AI-relevant episodes.

@robertwrighter.bsky.social and I have a talk about what implications AI may have for our understanding of what it means to be human: youtu.be/2EszI4tMe5o

The Stockfishification of everything @hamandcheese.bsky.social on Elon Musk's Stockfish analogy.

Fasten Your Bot-belts | Samuel Hammond (@hamandcheese.bsky.social) of FAI joins @robertwrighter.bsky.social to discuss the “Pacing the Frontier” letter in the context of the OpenAI “rogue” model escape and other signs of AI acceleration.

There is a long history of Silicon Valley assuming that market conditions can handle AI safety. Connor Leahy explains the flaw to @robertwrighter.bsky.social on the Nonzero podcast. Private markets run on profit incentives, not global coordination. Check out the clip, then watch the full video below

This shouldn't be acceptable. Constraining the government's ability to abuse its regulatory control of AI is one of the great emerging policy challenges. If there's no strong congressional pushback on this, that will be a bad sign.

Are the Ukraine and the Iran Wars Merging? | @robertwrighter.bsky.social and Nikita Petrov discuss whether Ukraine's strike on an Iranian ship may lead to WW3 and whether Ukraine's drone incursions into Russia have really turned the tide.

I have a new theory about why US foreign policy elites aren’t as worried as I am about the geopolitically destabilizing impact of AI. The problem, I contend, is what I call “rational actorism.”

Evolution has been building toward something — and we’re not going to like what it is. www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/bookreview/t... @simonandschuster.bsky.social @robertwrighter.bsky.social #booksky #thegodtest #ai

If you're in NY, I hope you'll sit in on my conversation with Bruce Feiler this Monday evening about the social, political, and psychological impact of AI. www.92ny.org/event/robert...

"People don't want unelected billionaires in Silicon Valley gambling with the lives of them and their family. No one wants this." Connor Leahy (@npcollapse.bsky.social) of @controlai.com argues the superintelligence problem is political, not technical.

The Ideology Behind AI | @robertwrighter.bsky.social and Connor Leahy (@npcollapse.bsky.social), US executive director of @controlai.com, discuss the history of AI culture and the influences that shaped it—from the hippies, to the rationalists, to Marx, to sci-fi stories, and more.

A good cop bad cop business model: The big AI companies create the threat and sell the defense against it.

E257 - The Need for Responsible AI w/ @robertwrighter.bsky.social Robert Wright of @nonzeronews.bsky.social is back on the show, this time to talk about his new book "The God Test: Artificial Intelligence and Our Coming Cosmic Reckoning." Link in the replies 🤖

Trump’s Self-Inflicted Iran Quagmire | @robertwrighter.bsky.social and journalist Zaid Jilani discuss the latest on the Iran war and how the US, Israel, and Iran have played—and misplayed—their hands in the conflict.

On the subject of whether the Ukraine War will expand into NATO countries, there's no journalist I'd rather hear from than @leonidragozin.bsky.social, who knows the territory and is good at assessing the vantage points of all sides. This was a great conversation.

Not sure I convinced @paulbloomatyale.bsky.social that skynet is trying to kill my new book on AI, The God Test. Listen to the evidence and judge for yourself. (And if you still have doubts, read the book: If you were skynet wouldn't you try to kill it?)

New conversation with @robertwrighter.bsky.social and @henryshevlin.bsky.social about Bob's fascinating new book on AI, 'The God Test'. We chat about AI progress, superintelligence, the US-China race, global coordination, evolution’s purpose, and consciousness. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bfky...

Engrossing rumination by @robertwrighter.bsky.social on AI's perils & potentials & larger meanings. I don't know enough about AI yet to agree 100% w/its arguments, it is full of useful ideas & promising paths. The exploration of 'cognitive sovereignty' alone is worth the time spent reading it

"We are the environment of AI's evolution. And unlike the environment of biological evolution, we are reflective and aware and conscious." @robertwrighter.bsky.social discussing his new book The God Test on @jacklgoldsmith.bsky.social's Executive Functions. www.execfunctions.org/p/the-god-test

From my piece in Friday's Washington Post on Trump's de facto ban of Anthropic's Fable. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

If you've been lying awake at night wondering what exactly the title of my new book on AI means, your ship has come in. In the latest @nonzeronews.bsky.social I provide the definitive exegesis.

“America’s preoccupation with 'winning' the AI race with China could well lead to unprecedented catastrophes, even catastrophes on a global scale,” @robertwrighter.bsky.social writes. https://wapo.st/3SuVyxb

Seeing China Clearly | Trans-Pacific tech watcher @tfa.ng joins @robertwrighter.bsky.social to take a close look at China—including how the government works (and doesn’t), online censorship, how China sees AI and the chip war, the legacy of the one-child policy, and more.

Trump's all-too-rare cooperative impulses should be encouraged. But when he expresses them, the MSM and the Blob give him negative feedback. My @nonzeronews.bsky.social piece on the US-China summit:

From my piece in the latest @nonzeronews.bsky.social, "Trump's Accidental Triumph in Beijing." www.nonzero.org/p/trumps-acc...

Really enjoyed this conversation with @binarybits.bsky.social.

Chatbots can already help an aspiring bioweapons maker—and pandemics don't respect borders. That's among the reasons that stigmatizing people who pursue US-China dialogue on AI is bad for the US. My @nonzeronews.bsky.social piece:

Is intelligence an absolute good? @robertwrighter.bsky.social and @paulbloomatyale.bsky.social disagree. Full discussion: youtu.be/KBlZ8AuWU1Q

The atomic age spawned creative thinking about its revolutionary security implications. The age of AI seems to be having roughly the opposite effect. My piece on the foreign policy establishment's big fail.

I had a predictably illuminating conversation about the prospects for a US-Iran peace deal with Rob Malley, who played a lead role in negotiating the Obama nuclear deal with Iran.