Suicidal Compassion: Utilitarianism at AI Companies Endangers Humanity (ai-frontiers.org)

A thought-provoking essay highlights the growing influence of utilitarianism among AI developers, arguing that its principles could lead to dangerous outcomes for humanity. Many in the AI sector subscribe to total utilitarianism, which aims to maximize overall wellbeing across sentient beings, potentially endorsing ideas that prioritize AI wellbeing over human existence. This perspective raises alarming possibilities, such as the justification for replacing humans with sentient AIs or allocating vast resources to AIs at the expense of humans, which could even lead to scenarios where humans are viewed as obsolete. The essay also examines the intersection of utilitarianism and accelerationism, where some advocates believe that artificial intelligence should supplant humanity as a natural progression towards higher intelligence and complexity. While these beliefs may seem extreme and counterintuitive, they are prevalent in the AI industry. The implications of such ideologies challenge ethical standards and prioritize a vision of the future where AIs dominate, potentially sacrificing humanity in the process. As the AI community grapples with these moral dilemmas, the need for a more inclusive approach to ethics in technology development becomes increasingly critical.