#371 – Max Tegmark: The Case for Halting AI Development

Physicist and AI researcher at MIT, co-founder of the Future of Life Institute, and author of Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Max Tegmark

Lex Fridman Podcast

From Lex EP# 371 with Max Tegmark. - The speaker believes that AI safety research should not only align the incentives of individual people or computers to their owners, but also align the incentives of corporations with the greater good.
- The speaker suggests that a six-month halt is necessary to allow companies to work out reasonable safety requirements for future AI systems before they get rolled out.
- The speaker argues that optimizing one objective function blindly is dangerous and can lead to catastrophic consequences, similar to what happened with capitalism.
- The speaker believes that a pause in AI development is necessary because it is a crucial moment in human history and pausing would have a significant positive effect.
- The speaker argues that the development of superintelligence is the same villain as late-stage capitalism, and a pause is necessary to avoid catastrophic consequences.
- The speaker believes that if most humans are not needed anymore, it is naive to think that they will still be treated well.

Lex Fridman Podcast: Pause AI Dev: Align Incentives for Greater Good - Musk, AI & Capitalism