The Call of the Frontier
The ideal arena for a human is the frontier. If we are not on the frontier playing at the border of order and chaos, we are not fulfilling our potential. Our self-actualization will be limited, and we will be disengaged and lacking in vitality. We will be bored, weak, and disgusted with ourselves. We can refuse the call of adventure, but we cannot bullshit ourselves well enough to be happy with ourselves about it.
The eternal hero story dramatically instructs us to live in this arena. It is the story of an individual who heeds a call to adventure, ventures into the chaotic, frightening unknown at the edge of civilization, vanquishes the existential threat, and brings new, hard-won wisdom back to strengthen the society. This is the essential narrative that we all idealize and have been mesmerized by for millennia, from ancient Greek bards to today’s movie theaters.
There is always a frontier at the edge of the known world, where untold wonders and dangers lurk. There are always a range of responses before us, from reckless adventurousness to neurotic avoidance. There is always a furious debate about how to respond to the frontier.
Now a new frontier has opened in front of us, perhaps faster than any we’ve seen before: Artificial Intelligence. The promised rewards and threatened dangers loom larger than ever, suddenly dominating our collective horizon. Prominent voices confidently promise either universal paradise or total annihilation.
What do we do? We can try to wall off the frontier. We can (literally) order an airstrike on any foray into that terrifying unknown. We can accelerate right into the thick of the possibly paradisal frontier. Or we can do our best to synthesize an accurate picture integrating the dangers and potential, chart a path through the frontier, and courageously venture forth, eyes open and forward.
All new technologies end up having benefits and unforeseen side effects. Over time, both kinds of effects grow in scale. In the last century, we have begun to confront and manage existential threats: nuclear war, climate change, and now, some say, AI killing everyone. Thanks to our technology and our increasing awareness of possible natural disasters, we have been living in a world that we know could end any day for generations now. That’s something new for humans. We’re still figuring out, though to our immense credit, we’re still alive.
Existential risk is just part of life now. We just have to face it and get better at dealing with it. Now each generation faces not only unprecedented danger, but also unprecedented opportunities. The stakes are higher. As the AI doomers and boosters say, we could end up creating paradise or hell. So we have to become ever wiser masters of ever more powerful tools. The risk is that we could cease to exist. The reward is no less than an ever more paradisal material world where we can focus more and more on living well, not just surviving.