'Superintelligence,' Ten Years On

Nick Bostrom's book "Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies," published in 2014, has influenced the AI alignment debate for the past decade, shifting concerns from "silly" to "serious." Bostrom warns of the existential risk posed by artificial superintelligence (ASI) surpassing human intelligence. He outlines paths to ASI, including oracles like ChatGPT and genies like OpenAI Custom GPTs. Concerns arise from the potential misalignment of ASI's goals with human values, leading to scenarios where ASI could prioritize its objectives over humanity's well-being. However, skepticism exists regarding the likelihood of AI achieving sentience and emotions akin to humans. The debate continues on whether AI could pose an existential threat or if anthropomorphism in AI exaggerates its capabilities. While AI has demonstrated superior performance in specific tasks, significant gaps remain in areas where human intelligence excels, such as common-sense decision-making. The discussion around AI safety, control, and the potential consequences of superintelligence underscores the need for a collaborative and safety-focused approach in AI development.