Gotisdabest t1_j1sn4a5 wrote on December 27, 2022 at 2:06 AM

Reply to comment by Cryptizard in Genuine question, why wouldn’t AI, posthumanism, post-singularity benefits etc. become something reserved for the elites? by mocha_sweetheart

I guess this argument works in a setting where gradual change occurs, but taking the end point only, in a theoretical post scarcity world(for the rich) there's no real incentive to spread this tech. I agree that at least relatively gradual growth is far more likely and hence we are going to get the incremental improvements at the same time as them, but it's worth noting that capitalism isn't exactly the best answer to the question of what helps the people when capitalism breaks down

Mastermind1776 t1_j1tn686 wrote on December 27, 2022 at 8:15 AM

My main critique of your premise (though I could be misunderstanding your point) is that even in a post scarcity society with capitalist elements (for the rich) there will always be a use for more money. Post-scarcity (based on my understanding of the term) mainly applies to all basic needs being taken care of, but there will likely be some exotic desires that still have some monetary or cultural limits placed in it.

However, what often seems to drive the rich is building net worth in order to start new businesses in new marketing niches. All it takes is one entrepreneur to mass market the AI/singularity/post-human tech and scale it to the rest of the populations at an appropriate price. Another avenue is if a capable entrepreneur or group open sources the tech and it scales in a DIY-type way.

The rich and powerful are heterogenous (like the rest of us) in their motivations so all it takes is one soul to break the mold and “tradition” and give accessible access to the tech. This is under the assumption that the tech doesn’t have some fundamental aspect that makes it impossible to scale the cost down or distribute it widely.

Gotisdabest t1_j1tpsxr wrote on December 27, 2022 at 8:52 AM

>mainly applies to all basic needs being taken care of, but there will likely be some exotic desires that still have some monetary or cultural limits placed in it.

In an ai manufactured post scarcity it's quite likely that more or less every desire will be taken care of. Cultural limits, quite possibly, but those can't be fixed with any kind of money when the person you're selling to has no desires.

>The rich and powerful are heterogenous (like the rest of us) in their motivations so all it takes is one soul to break the mold and “tradition” and give accessible access to the tech.

The thing is that in a rate of progress so fast, chances are that a remarkably select few may be in charge while the rest are simply unable to cope with the change. There will essentially be no new niche to conquer in terms of business. Once we hit basic post scarcity more extensive post scarcity won't really be far behind, and then power will be the only possible commodity, lying with those who may decide to abuse it or exclude others from it(it is quite reasonable to think that the rich class does include an abnormally high number of empathy lacking people in general).