Hey, so, on a similar but slightly different topic, I focused on substantial cognitive enhancement of adults through genetic modification when I was in grad school. Because I thought it was potentially a very valuable cause area, especially if it could be used to selectively enhance technological progress on key issues like AGI alignment and better governance, and of course, on better forms of cognitive enhancement which would then potentially positively spiral. Eventually, reluctantly, I came to the conclusion that I am highly confident it is possible but that it just isn’t feasible to implement (given legal restrictions on experimentation, funding constraints, etc) before AGI. And if it can’t be done before AGI, well… why bother? AGI risks and benefits just utterly overwhelms the issue. I think pharmacological enhancement has much smaller potential payoffs (a few IQ points rather than many), but does seem enough more tractable in terms of timelines that it’s at least relevant to consider.
Thanks for your comment. It’s interesting to hear about the similarities between genetic and pharmacological enhancement, such as funding and legal restrictions. The interaction of AGI timelines and pharmacological enhancement is one of the areas where I am least certain. Theoretically, enhancement could speed up the development of AGI and alignment. I’m unsure about the balance of risks and benefits here.
I think genetic enhancement for cognitive ability could be extremely important. Progress could be fed up with additional financial support and more resources. Even if AGI is incredibly important and takes all intellectual labor, cognitive enhancement may provide many of the positive social and economic benefits still. If AGI ends all human life, then nothing else matters anyway. I’ll be finishing an article on this soon.
Hey, so, on a similar but slightly different topic, I focused on substantial cognitive enhancement of adults through genetic modification when I was in grad school. Because I thought it was potentially a very valuable cause area, especially if it could be used to selectively enhance technological progress on key issues like AGI alignment and better governance, and of course, on better forms of cognitive enhancement which would then potentially positively spiral. Eventually, reluctantly, I came to the conclusion that I am highly confident it is possible but that it just isn’t feasible to implement (given legal restrictions on experimentation, funding constraints, etc) before AGI. And if it can’t be done before AGI, well… why bother? AGI risks and benefits just utterly overwhelms the issue. I think pharmacological enhancement has much smaller potential payoffs (a few IQ points rather than many), but does seem enough more tractable in terms of timelines that it’s at least relevant to consider.
Thanks for your comment. It’s interesting to hear about the similarities between genetic and pharmacological enhancement, such as funding and legal restrictions. The interaction of AGI timelines and pharmacological enhancement is one of the areas where I am least certain. Theoretically, enhancement could speed up the development of AGI and alignment. I’m unsure about the balance of risks and benefits here.
I think genetic enhancement for cognitive ability could be extremely important. Progress could be fed up with additional financial support and more resources. Even if AGI is incredibly important and takes all intellectual labor, cognitive enhancement may provide many of the positive social and economic benefits still. If AGI ends all human life, then nothing else matters anyway. I’ll be finishing an article on this soon.