AI risk discussions often focus on malfunctions, misuse, and misalignment. But this often misses other key challenges from advanced AI systems:

Coordination: Race dynamics may encourage unsafe AI deployment, even from ‘safe’ actors.
Power: First-movers with advanced AI could gain permanent military, economic, and/or political dominance.
Economics: When AI generates all wealth, humans have no leverage to ensure they are treated well.

These are all huge hurdles, and need solutions before advanced AI arrives.

Preamble: advanced AI

This article assumes we might develop human-level AI in the next few years. If you don’t agree with this assumption, this article probably isn’t for you.[1]

I’ll call this advanced AI to distinguish it from today's AI systems. I’m imagining it as more competent versions of current AI systems[2] that can do what most remote workers can. This AI would be superhuman across many domains, and human-level at almost all economically [...]

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Outline:

(00:45) Preamble: advanced AI

(01:17) Common AI risk thinking

(03:47) 1. The Coordination Problem

(04:41) 2. The Power Distribution Problem

(06:48) 3. The Economic Transition Problem

(08:14) Common counter arguments

(08:18) Just use AI to solve these problems

(08:32) The market will solve it

(08:49) Humans always adapt / previous technology has created new jobs

(09:30) Well all get income from being artists and poets

(10:16) We'll all get income from being prompt engineers or AI trainers

(10:49) We'll all get income from doing manual labour

(11:34) Conclusion

(12:18) Acknowledgments

The original text contained 7 footnotes which were omitted from this narration.

The original text contained 1 image which was described by AI.

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First published:
January 2nd, 2025

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/SAkFA5jHzzD5JWWxC/alignment-is-not-all-you-need

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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“Alignment Is NOT All You Need” by Adam Jones

LessWrong (30+ Karma)

“Alignment Is NOT All You Need” by Adam Jones