Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies

by Nick Bostrom

Life for biological humans in a post-transition Malthusian state need not resemble any of the historical states of man (as hunter–gatherer, farmer, or office worker). Instead, the majority of humans in this scenario might be idle rentiers who eke out a marginal living on their savings.16 They would be very poor, yet derive what little income they have from savings or state subsidies. They would live in a world with extremely advanced technology, including not only superintelligent machines but also anti-aging medicine, virtual reality, and various enhancement technologies and pleasure drugs: yet these might be generally unaffordable. Perhaps instead of using enhancement medicine, they would take drugs to stunt their growth and slow their metabolism in order to reduce their cost of living (fast-burners being unable to survive at the gradually declining subsistence income). As our numbers increase and our average income declines further, we might degenerate into whatever minimal structure still qualifies to receive a pension—perhaps minimally conscious brains in vats, oxygenized and nourished by machines, slowly saving up enough money to reproduce by having a robot technician develop a clone of them.17