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Baughn comments on For FAI: Is "Molecular Nanotechnology" putting our best foot forward? - Less Wrong Discussion

48 Post author: leplen 22 June 2013 04:44AM

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Comment author: Baughn 26 June 2013 02:50:27PM 1 point [-]

If you have to do this, then the threat of nanotech looks a lot smaller. Replicators that need a nearly perfect vacuum aren't much of a threat.

The idea is to have a vacuum inside the machinery, a macroscopic nanofactory can still exist in an atmosphere.

Comment author: JoshuaZ 26 June 2013 07:18:04PM 1 point [-]

Sure, but a lot of the hypothetical nanotech disasters are things that require nanotech devices that are themselves very small (e.g. the grey goo scenarios). If one requires a macroscopic object to keep a stable vacuum then the set of threats goes down by a lot. Obviously a lot of them are still possibly present (such as the possibility that almost anyone will be able to refine uranium), but many of them don't, and many of the obvious scenarios connected to AI would then look less likely.

Comment author: Baughn 27 June 2013 10:32:47AM 1 point [-]

I don't know.. I think 'grey goo' scenarios would still work even if the individual goolets are insect-sized.