Executive summary: The author argues that during the transition to superintelligence we should aim not for a fixed utopia or ad-hoc problem solving, but for “viatopia,” an intermediate societal state that preserves optionality, safety, and collective wisdom so humanity can reliably steer toward near-best futures.
Key points:
Superintelligence would transform society on a scale comparable to human evolution, yet there is little articulated positive vision for what comes after.
The author introduces “viatopia” as a waystation society that is well-positioned to reach excellent futures without committing to a specific final end-state.
Viatopia is contrasted with utopianism, which overconfidently specifies ideal end-states, and protopianism or piecemeal engineering, which lacks guidance for prioritization during rapid, high-stakes transitions.
A viatopian society would possess “societal primary goods” such as material abundance, scientific and technological capacity, coordination ability, gains from trade, and very low catastrophic risk.
It would also preserve optionality, cultivate reflection on values, structure deliberation so better arguments win, and maintain stable institutions that support long-term steering.
Formally, the author defines viatopia as a state with very high expected value relative to the best feasible outcomes and very low probability of astronomically bad ones, adaptable across moral frameworks.
This comment was auto-generated by the EA Forum Team. Feel free to point out issues with this summary by replying to the comment, andcontact us if you have feedback.
Executive summary: The author argues that during the transition to superintelligence we should aim not for a fixed utopia or ad-hoc problem solving, but for “viatopia,” an intermediate societal state that preserves optionality, safety, and collective wisdom so humanity can reliably steer toward near-best futures.
Key points:
Superintelligence would transform society on a scale comparable to human evolution, yet there is little articulated positive vision for what comes after.
The author introduces “viatopia” as a waystation society that is well-positioned to reach excellent futures without committing to a specific final end-state.
Viatopia is contrasted with utopianism, which overconfidently specifies ideal end-states, and protopianism or piecemeal engineering, which lacks guidance for prioritization during rapid, high-stakes transitions.
A viatopian society would possess “societal primary goods” such as material abundance, scientific and technological capacity, coordination ability, gains from trade, and very low catastrophic risk.
It would also preserve optionality, cultivate reflection on values, structure deliberation so better arguments win, and maintain stable institutions that support long-term steering.
Formally, the author defines viatopia as a state with very high expected value relative to the best feasible outcomes and very low probability of astronomically bad ones, adaptable across moral frameworks.
This comment was auto-generated by the EA Forum Team. Feel free to point out issues with this summary by replying to the comment, and contact us if you have feedback.