There is a moral hazard in treating refuges—whether they are high-tech bunkers or colonies in Mars/Moon—as one of the biosecurity projects to address existential risk. We risk decoupling the interests of the global elite from the survival of the general population. If the wealthy can afford a ‘way out,’ the collective incentive to solve existential threats on Earth from engineered pandemics or AI misalignment is weakened. We should be investing in ‘public good’ safety measures, not private lifeboats.
There is a moral hazard in treating refuges—whether they are high-tech bunkers or colonies in Mars/Moon—as one of the biosecurity projects to address existential risk. We risk decoupling the interests of the global elite from the survival of the general population. If the wealthy can afford a ‘way out,’ the collective incentive to solve existential threats on Earth from engineered pandemics or AI misalignment is weakened. We should be investing in ‘public good’ safety measures, not private lifeboats.