The problem is that the public correctly perceives that economic growth and technological progress make the average life better, so it is hard to get political support for any measures to slow them down. I can think of two policy proposals that already have a lot of support that we could throw our weight behind. Most supporters of these proposals are unaware of the significant progress-slowing effects of these proposals, which is the only reason they are as popular as they are. I don’t want to say more in public because it makes us AI decelerationists look bad to casual readers, but I welcome PMs on the subject.
To directly answer your question: yes, if you value the survival of our species rather than just the experiences of the current generation of humans, a general slowdown of the economy and of human technology would be a good thing given the current situation around AI research. Unless you have some plan for actually effecting a slowdown that is a lot more effective (and less cynical and almost-dishonorable) than what I suggested in the previous paragraph, though, there are better courses of action for us to focus our attention on.
I’m assuming that the only effective ways of slowing down ‘progress’ is to get laws passed.
> The problem is that the public correctly perceives that economic growth and technological progress make the average life better, so it is hard to get political support for any measures to slow them down.
I mean, if we think these things are actually bad overall (which I’m not convinced of but maybe), we could at least avoid doing things that directly or indirectly promote or generate more economic growth for example. There are some very low-hanging fruits.
The problem is that the public correctly perceives that economic growth and technological progress make the average life better, so it is hard to get political support for any measures to slow them down. I can think of two policy proposals that already have a lot of support that we could throw our weight behind. Most supporters of these proposals are unaware of the significant progress-slowing effects of these proposals, which is the only reason they are as popular as they are. I don’t want to say more in public because it makes us AI decelerationists look bad to casual readers, but I welcome PMs on the subject.
To directly answer your question: yes, if you value the survival of our species rather than just the experiences of the current generation of humans, a general slowdown of the economy and of human technology would be a good thing given the current situation around AI research. Unless you have some plan for actually effecting a slowdown that is a lot more effective (and less cynical and almost-dishonorable) than what I suggested in the previous paragraph, though, there are better courses of action for us to focus our attention on.
I’m assuming that the only effective ways of slowing down ‘progress’ is to get laws passed.
Interesting points, thanks!
> The problem is that the public correctly perceives that economic growth and technological progress make the average life better, so it is hard to get political support for any measures to slow them down.
I mean, if we think these things are actually bad overall (which I’m not convinced of but maybe), we could at least avoid doing things that directly or indirectly promote or generate more economic growth for example. There are some very low-hanging fruits.