What Pausing the AI Arms Race is and isn't: the Right Side of History or Wishful Thinking

Abstract

"Once upon a time on Tralfamdore there were creatures who weren't anything like machines...And these poor creatures were obsessed by the idea that everything that existed had to have a purpose...And the machines did everything so expertly that they were finally given the job of finding out what the highest purpose of the creatures could be...The machines reported that in all honesty that the creatures couldn't really be said to have any purpose...The creatures thereupon began slaying each other...And they discovered that they weren't even very good at slaying. So they turned that job over to the machines, too. And the machines finished up the job in less time than it takes to say, 'Tralfamadore'" [45].