By default, capital will matter more than ever after AGI

By L Rudolf L @ 2024-12-28T17:52 (+108)

This is a linkpost to https://nosetgauge.substack.com/p/capital-agi-and-human-ambition

This is a crosspost, probably from LessWrong. Try viewing it there.

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Manuel Allgaier @ 2025-01-03T14:50 (+3)

@Benjamin_Todd recently made a similar argument for why existing capital might matter even more post-AGI, sharing this here for anyone who'd like more context: 

"AGI probably causes wages to increase initially, but eventually they collapse. Once AI models can deploy energy and other capital more efficiently to do useful things, there’s no reason to employ most humans any more. [...]" 

read full blog post

SummaryBot @ 2025-01-02T17:55 (+1)

Executive summary: As AI increasingly replaces human labor, capital (money and physical assets) will become more powerful while human agency diminishes, potentially creating a static society where current power structures become permanently locked in.

Key points:

  1. Labor-replacing AI will make capital more effective at buying results while reducing humans' leverage and ability to achieve outlier success through work
  2. Institutions will have reduced incentives to care about human welfare once AI can perform all economically valuable labor
  3. Traditional paths to social mobility and change (entrepreneurship, science, intellectual work) will become largely inaccessible to humans
  4. Historical patterns suggest radical wealth redistribution is unlikely, meaning existing inequalities (both within and between countries) may become permanent
  5. The best case scenario is a static but materially comfortable society; worst case could be extreme inequality or human extinction
  6. Key recommendation: Use the current "dreamtime" period to pursue ambitious projects and establish mechanisms to preserve human agency and societal dynamism

 

 

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