Inside The Technooptimist Cult Influencing OpenAIs Sam Altman
If Control Altman's "Delete and Undo" saga shows anything, it's the clash between AI advocates and regulation advocates.
While it's still unclear what led to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's resignation, it appears to have been due to concerns over a lack of regulation, and that Altman acted too quickly without vetting.
Altman's exact views are unclear, but he previously championed a movement called techno-optimism, sometimes known as e/acc (efficient acceleration). In 2022, he claimed: "Technological optimism is the only good solution to our current problems. Unfortunately, expressing optimism about the future has become a radical act."
This is a satire on the so-called “delers,” not the pro-AI regulators (which now include President Biden and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak) and the Silicon Valley alternative cult of efficient altruists (also abbreviated EA). to fear such dangers. Unregulated artificial intelligence and even investments in hypothetical solutions to natural disasters. In fact, two women who are no longer on OpenAI's board of directors have been associated with effective altruistic movements.
The general trend seems to be that software developers and AI technologists favor regulation. Entrepreneurs strive for progress at all costs (hoping it will lead to increased profits).
The most extreme version of this technologically optimistic and efficient accelerationist ideology can be seen in the corners of the Internet dominated by super-rich tech entrepreneurs who capitalize on and embrace anarcho-capitalism. They see themselves as disruptors in a "move fast and break things" model. They see regulation as anti-capitalist. They love philosopher Ayn Rand, who believed that self-interest is good and altruism is always bad.
E/acc was born out of accelerationism, an ideology coined by British academic Nick Land of the renowned Cybernetic Culture Research Unit at the University of Warwick (also home to Mark Fisher). Accelerationism believes that technology and capitalism should accelerate because it is in the interest of humanity or because such progress is inevitable.
On Oct. 16, Silicon Valley entrepreneur Marc Andreessen publishes the Techno-Optimism Manifesto in his X biography, The Tech Optimist. And/or: An artificial intelligence specialist and open for business. Coinbase founder Brian Armstrong and several other influential "tech bros" were met with enthusiasm. . .
Techno Optimist poster word cloud az16
The originator of this creator-less movement is the anonymous Twitter/X account @BasedBeffJezos. Based on the concept of accelerationism advanced by the British philosopher Nick Land (the belief that information technology should develop as quickly as possible at any cost), efficient acceleration is contrasted with efficient altruism, another technological ideology epitomized by Sam Bankman-Fried.
E/accs is fundamentally at odds with effective altruists who, among many other reasons, are concerned about the real dangers of technology and engage in debates about how much money should be allocated to AI and technology-induced disasters in the future. to prevent .
@BasedBeffJezos describes the ideology as: "e/acc is simply a metacognitive hack that hijacks a virus and allows the meta-organisms of a civilization to cybernetically control it, fueling its accelerated growth and thereby causing mass prosperity and general hyper-expansion of the universe." intelligence." A recent report called AI regulation totalitarian.
Conversely, E/ACCS wants unfettered technological development.
As tech analyst Joseph Tisdale puts it, the fringe group "that advocates the pursuit of super-rich financiers ... in pursuit of limitless profits" is nevertheless influential. One reason is that they include Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and Andreessen, co-founder of the $35 billion venture capital firm az16.
So what do they believe? People are being "educated" about the potential dangers of technology. "We are told that technology is taking our jobs, reducing our wages, increasing inequality, threatening our health, destroying the environment, destroying the quality of our society, harming our children, destroying our humanity, threatening our future and destroys almost everything. ", we read on the poster.
Technology can also solve all the problems of humanity. "We believe there is no material problem, whether created by nature or technology, that cannot be solved by new technology."
E/accs believes in unfettered capitalism, especially the free market advocated by Friedrich Hayek. "Markets prevent monopolies and cartels," and "concentration will starve you."
"We believe that the market economy is an engine of discovery, a form of intelligence, an exploratory, evolutionary and adaptive system."
They believe that people should become "technological supermen", and the development of artificial intelligence, for example, is a moral imperative. “We believe that we are, have been and always will be masters of technology, not technology. A victim mentality is a curse in all areas of life, including our relationship with technology, unhelpful and counterproductive. We are not victims, we are conquerors."
It seems like things are completely out of control, but there's no denying that Marc Andreessen has a lot of power. He has 1.3 million Twitter followers and runs a venture fund that invests in companies like Instagram.
Moreover, politicians listen to this influential group. The UK, led by SV's tech brother Rishi Suna, decided not to adopt AI-specific rules to encourage innovation after the AI Security Summit. However, recently the EU has adopted a more muscular approach.
E/accs inspires exciting dreams for little people. Below you can read another quote from Andreessen's manifesto:
“We believe in the romance of technology and industry. Eros of trains, cars, electric lighting, skyscrapers. And microchips, neural networks, rockets, split atoms.
We believe in adventure. Embark on a hero's journey, rebel against the status quo, chart uncharted territories, conquer dragons and bring loot to our community."
This belief in a fantasy mission sounds more like a young man's fantasy quest than a serious and effective way to develop "humanity" in a way that is "beneficial" to all.
