So the vast majority of scientific research seems to do very little for helping an AI go foom.
I guess it wasn’t clear but I also consider a Hansonian/Malthusian upload-driven Singularity to be bad.
So, overall it seems that most science is neutral to a Singularity situation.
The mechanism I had in mind was that most scientific/technological progress (like p4wnc608′s field of machine vision for example) has the effect of increasing the demand for computing hardware and growing the overall economy, which allows continued research and investment into more powerful computers, bringing both types of Singularity closer.
I guess it wasn’t clear but I also consider a Hansonian/Malthusian upload-driven Singularity to be bad.
The mechanism I had in mind was that most scientific/technological progress (like p4wnc608′s field of machine vision for example) has the effect of increasing the demand for computing hardware and growing the overall economy, which allows continued research and investment into more powerful computers, bringing both types of Singularity closer.