[Linkpost] “Slopworld 2035: The dangers of mediocre AI” by titotal

This is a link post. None of this article was written with AI assistance. Introduction There have been many, many, many attempts to lay out scenarios of AI taking over or destroying humanity. What they tend to have in common is an assumption that our doom will be sealed as a result of AI becoming significantly smarter and more powerful than the best humans, eclipsing us in skill and power and outplaying us effortlessly. In this article, I’m going to do a twist: I’m going to write a story (and detailed analysis) about a scenario where humanity is disempowered and destroyed by AI that is dumber than us, due to a combination of hype, overconfidence, greed and anti-intellectualism. This is a scenario where instead of AI bringing untold abundance or tiling the universe with paperclips, it brings mediocrity, stagnation, and inequality. This is not a forecast. This story probably won’t [...] ---Outline:(00:18) Introduction(01:58) The story of Slopworld(22:05) Slopworld ingredients(46:42) Analysis(50:40) ConclusionThe original text contained 5 footnotes which were omitted from this narration. --- First published: April 14th, 2025 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/Sd3X5mWAEzyNaPamT/slopworld-2035-the-dangers-of-mediocre-ai Linkpost URL:https://titotal.substack.com/p/slopworld-2035-the-dangers-of-mediocre --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO. ---Images from the article:Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.