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Derpgeek t1_j3q17gv wrote

The vast majority of the comments here are brainlet takes lol.

Assuming a benevolent ASI, there are only a few realistic scenarios for humans afterwards.

  1. Massive intelligence amplification through chips being implanted or by moving one’s consciousness entirely to a silicon based substrate (more or less becoming an Android usually, but there’s certainly going to be a group of people who largely prefers not to have a traditional body at all).
  2. Merge with the ASI itself. I don’t think most people would want to do this. Although it would be the best choice for maximizing intelligence obviously (you may have 3 chips if you’ve been implanted, but the ASI has quadrillions), you’d presumably be losing some degree of freedom or individuality, but perhaps the almighty ASI would allow you to simply leech off its systems without your consciousness actually being absorbed so to speak.
  3. Vanilla humans. Obviously some minority of people will have no interest in becoming amplified. Some people will even refuse immortality because of religious reasons. Whether or not the ASI would feel compelled to convince them is up in the air, but assuming it has super-morality (superintelligence implies many more emotions that are infinitely stronger than humans have if you ask me), it’d probably not like the idea of people dying period. I’d recommend the book Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect if you want to read more about this general idea. In any case, for those vanilla intelligence humans who chose immortality, they’ll get bored eventually whether it takes hundreds or thousands or trillions of years and would presumably want to be cognitively enhanced so as to experience novel things that the eons they spent in full dive VR can’t even begin to compare to.

Now the more interesting question for me is what will happen to non-humans. In his book the Neuroscience of Intelligence, Richard Haier posits (albeit in the context of humans) that if intelligence is a generally a good thing, and leads to a more enjoyable life, if it’s possible to enhance intelligence then isn’t it essentially immoral not to? I’m sure plenty of people will want to have their pet dogs or cats become superintelligent. Dolphins, elephants, and all primates are pretty smart. They probably deserve intelligence enhancement. But where is the line drawn? Just organisms that are already relatively smart? All mammals and a few aquatic organisms? Idk so I’ll leave that to be answered by the ASI :)

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