Caledonian2 comments on Conjuring An Evolution To Serve You - Less Wrong

39 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 19 November 2007 05:55AM

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Comment author: Caledonian2 20 November 2007 01:55:16AM 2 points [-]

Most of the truly frightening possibilities are simply too unlikely. To produce them from a genetic algorithm, you'd have to expend massive amounts of resources creating a specific environment that would select for the traits you desired - no mean feat. Imagine what it would take to develop a hypervirulent and extremely lethal plague through an algorithm on purpose. The requirements are crushing.

Making people more aware of such algorithms, and their potential, might force a shift in the way food animals are dealt with so that they *don't* act as a optimalization procedure for plagues.