AI has generated a lot of discussion in the tech world: inevitable superintelligence or just a tool? A heated debate launched by Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum. What if the real danger did not lie in AI, but in our inability to control it? Let’s enter the war of scenarios for 2040.
In brief
- Vitalik Buterin asks: is AI an existential threat or a simple tool? Its uncertainty reflects a debate without consensus.
- Scenarios for 2040: Between Terminator and decentralized utopia, Ethereum offers blockchain solutions to control AI.
- Transparency, open source or emergency switches? No perfect answer against AI, but avenues to explore.
Vitalik Buterin: The AI debate focuses on a vague definition of “superintelligence”
It is not a technical question, but rather a philosophical one which opposes the supporters of the scenario “AI 2040” (a superintelligence by 2040) to its detractors. Some, like Daniel Kokotajlo (ex-OpenAI), see ASI (Artificial Superintelligence) as an existential threat to be stopped. For others like Yann LeCun (Meta), it is a pipe dream because the current models are only self-completion machines. Vitalik Buterin plays the disillusioned referee:
If I believed that current AI was normal technology, I would be in the naysayers’ camp. If I believed that ASI would arrive by 2030, I would be close to the AI 2040 camp. But I don’t know… and that’s the problem.
His Plan A? Full transparency and an emergency switch to stop dangerous AI training. But even he admits that humanity is perhaps stuck between the naive and the naive squared… Between those who believe that everything will be fine and those who think they can control everything.
2040: Terminator scenario? Could Ethereum be the hero?
What if 2040 was like “Terminator” ? Alarmists even see the emergence of uncontrollable AI, erasing jobs, manipulating markets, or worse… But in this nightmare, Ethereum and its blockchain could play the saviors. How ? By making AI accessible to everyone through transparent smart contracts and DAOs. Indeed, Vitalik Buterin imagines a system Or :
- AI models would be open source (avoiding domination by a few giants like Google or Meta);
- Critical decisions would be voted on by the community via decentralized governance mechanisms;
- THE “kill switches” (emergency switches) would be automated and tamper-proof thanks to the blockchain.
The only problem is that Ethereum itself cannot guarantee global coordination. If China or the United States refuse to play the game, the ASI could still emerge in the shadows. Here again, decentralization will have its limits.
AI reflects our fears: control or chaos? Vitalik Buterin reminds us that the real debate is not about the fact that the ASI will arrive, but about how we will manage its risk. And you, are you ready to trust Ethereum to save humanity?
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