David’s Reviews > Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence > Status Update

...Yet [popular] futuristic visions are largely dystopian...We need more mindful optimists. ...Think about what future you want, rather than only about what future you fear.

[Maya] insisted that we give [the nonprofit organization] a positive name, as different as possible from “Doom and Gloom Institute” and “Let’s Worry about the Future Institute.” ... We converged on the “Future of Life Institute: FLI.”

Sure, we need to keep in mind these possibilities [intelligent life elsewhere in the Universe], but since there’s no generally-accepted evidence for any of them, we also need to take seriously the alternative – that we are alone.

Do you want a civilization striving towards a greater purpose that you sympathize with, or, are you OK with future lifeforms that appear content, even if you view their goals as pointlessly banal?

Horse 1 "I'm worried about technological unemployment"
H2: “Neigh! Neigh! Don’t be a Luddite. Our ancestors said the same thing when steam engines took our industry jobs.. we have more jobs than ever today, and they’re better, too! ...
H1: "But what if this internal combustion engine thing really takes off?”
H2: I’m sure there’ll be new jobs for horses that we haven’t yet imagined!