By now I have read (or skimmed) so many reviews of Age of Em that I probably could have read the book myself...
Anyway.
I though about the two future paths: A Hansonian Em future and a machine AI future. I wondered how to reconcile the (seeming?) contradiction between them. Then the idea occurred to me that maybe that both can be (mostly? partly?) true:
If FAI is possible it will likely make Ems possible shortly after. If it is friendly as assumed then an exploitation of the Ems (loss of human value) as feared by many comments is ruled out by construction. What remains are things that are essentially human in social regards and efficient in economic terms.
If Robin Hanson is correct in his assumptions about economics and society are correct then I think the world created by FAI may play out as described by him. At least as long as it takes to go to the next level. Which may be quite short. As predicted by Hanson too.
I know regard reading a book a not so trivial investment of time and energy, given the huge quantity of possible books I could be reading right now.
Is there any particular reason to believe Hanson's beliefs? So that it makes sense to anticipate the future the way he does?
If it's worth saying, but not worth its own post (even in Discussion), then it goes here.
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