1) About AGI being different from ASI: basically this is the question of how fast we go from AGI to ASI i.e. how fast is the takeoff. This is debated and no one can exactly predict how much time it will take i.e. if it would/will be a slow/soft takeoff or a fast/hard takeoff. The question of what happens economically during the AGI to ASI takeoff is also difficult to predict. It would/will depend on what (the entity controlling) the self-improving AGI decides to do, how market actors are impacted, if they can adapt to it or not, government intervention (if the AGI/ASI makes it possible), etc...
2) With regard to the impact of an ASI on the economic world and society I would distinguish between
2a) The digital/knowledge/etc… economy basically everything that can be thought of as “data processing” that can be done by computing devices:
an ASI could take over all of that very quickly.
2b) The “physical” economy… i.e. basically everything that can be thought as “matter processing” that can be done by human bodies, machines, robots, …:
an ASI could take over all of that but it would take more time than the digital world of course as the ASI would/will need to produce many machines/robots/etc… and there could indeed be a bottleneck in terms of resources and laws of physics but if you imagine that the ASI would quickly master fast space travel, fast asteroid mining, fast nuclear fusion, fast robot production, etc… it might not take that long neither. The question of what would happen economically while this happens is also difficult to predict. Traditional/existing economic actors could for example just basically stop as soon as the ASI starts providing any imaginable amount of great quality goods and services to any living entities if the ASI is benovolent/utilitarian (within the constraints of the laws of physics if it is in the real/physical world and if the ASI don’t find ways to overcome the laws of physics in the real/physical world) basically what is called “post-scarcity”.
But there could be other scenarios including economic scenarios as well basically essentially depending on what (the entity controlling) the ASI decides to do, it could decide that people still need to be forced to work to keep some meaning of life so it could artificially maintain a working capitalist economy, etc...
When the digital and physical world are essentially mastered at will then basically it “just” becomes a question of how things are then organized/allocated. Money/interest rates/etc… become unnecessary to do that (but could still be used if that is the choice).
You make good/interesting points:
1) About AGI being different from ASI: basically this is the question of how fast we go from AGI to ASI i.e. how fast is the takeoff. This is debated and no one can exactly predict how much time it will take i.e. if it would/will be a slow/soft takeoff or a fast/hard takeoff. The question of what happens economically during the AGI to ASI takeoff is also difficult to predict. It would/will depend on what (the entity controlling) the self-improving AGI decides to do, how market actors are impacted, if they can adapt to it or not, government intervention (if the AGI/ASI makes it possible), etc...
2) With regard to the impact of an ASI on the economic world and society I would distinguish between
2a) The digital/knowledge/etc… economy basically everything that can be thought of as “data processing” that can be done by computing devices:
an ASI could take over all of that very quickly.
2b) The “physical” economy… i.e. basically everything that can be thought as “matter processing” that can be done by human bodies, machines, robots, …:
an ASI could take over all of that but it would take more time than the digital world of course as the ASI would/will need to produce many machines/robots/etc… and there could indeed be a bottleneck in terms of resources and laws of physics but if you imagine that the ASI would quickly master fast space travel, fast asteroid mining, fast nuclear fusion, fast robot production, etc… it might not take that long neither. The question of what would happen economically while this happens is also difficult to predict. Traditional/existing economic actors could for example just basically stop as soon as the ASI starts providing any imaginable amount of great quality goods and services to any living entities if the ASI is benovolent/utilitarian (within the constraints of the laws of physics if it is in the real/physical world and if the ASI don’t find ways to overcome the laws of physics in the real/physical world) basically what is called “post-scarcity”.
But there could be other scenarios including economic scenarios as well basically essentially depending on what (the entity controlling) the ASI decides to do, it could decide that people still need to be forced to work to keep some meaning of life so it could artificially maintain a working capitalist economy, etc...
When the digital and physical world are essentially mastered at will then basically it “just” becomes a question of how things are then organized/allocated. Money/interest rates/etc… become unnecessary to do that (but could still be used if that is the choice).