Severin Matusek

So is it possible to build AI tools that can help us all, rather than simply bolstering the dizzying wealth of a small number of tech companies? Is it possible to create an AI that democratises more than just financial insecurity for the majority of people—simply shifting a greater percentage of people below the wealth disparity gap rather than... See more

The move-fast ethos that works for software deployment is potentially catastrophic when applied to human cognitive development. You can’t A/B test your way out of atrophy. You can’t pivot when you realise you’ve lost a generation of expertise.

Delivering real utility outside the crypto bubble means matching the user experience consumers and businesses already get from traditional solutions. And yes, that requires building a bridge between old and new rails—often through compromises that look downright irrational to crypto purists.

All these points in AI’s favor prompt some nervous reappraisals. Essays that began in bafflement or dismay wind up convinced that the technology marks an epochal shift in reading and writing.

Rather than building tools that compete with them, the smarter strategy is to create incentives for their participation.

Looking back five years after the initial Dark Forest essay and pangs of concern, what most stands out is something that those of us who are drawn to Dark Forests have felt longer than most: that the internet is real life. What we do “in here” matters just as much as — and for some of us, problematically, even more than — what happens “out there.”... See more

My friend Chris Beiser says that social forms are a kind of capital that is essential to the structure of society and production. To put it a bit differently, the repertoire of forms dictates the kinds of lives that are available to us.