The highest-level challenge, whether in synthetic biology, robotics, or AI, is building a bulletproof off switch, a means of closing down any technology threatening to run out of control. It’s raw common sense to always ensure there is an off switch in any autonomous or powerful system. How to do this with technologies that are as distributed, protean, and far-reaching as in the coming wave—technologies whose precise form isn’t yet clear, technologies that in some cases might actively resist—is an open question. It’s a huge challenge. Do I think it’s possible? Yes—but no one should downplay
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