What Safety Concerns Does Nanotechnology Raise?

1. What Safety Concerns Does Nanotechnology Raise? • Mainstream nanotechnology • Environmental • Privacy • Molecular nanotechnology • Self-replication • Economic effects including autonomy • Abuses of power, centralization • Either • Computation

2. Environmental Risks • Nano-particle contamination • Another asbestos? • Is this acceptable? • Is this novel? • Forms of precautionary principle. • Nano litter • Energy waste • Oceanic harvesting of sunlight • Noise, energy efficiency, white sound, wealth

3. Privacy • Serious and mainstream concern • Mainstream public willing to think about surveillance. • Familiarization, from life and especially from science fiction, ironically suppresses cries of “science fiction” • Other than “The Transparent Society” has received very little realistic consideration • In practice, limited by manpower or by AI

4. Grey Goo • Technically possible but extremely unlikely • Many likely limitations • Practical precautions • Broadcast architecture • Radiation defenses + nanomedicine • Non-replicating defensive nano • Historical precedent for replication/growth • Bio-weapons, fire, zealots

5. Abuse • Very general problem of all technologies • Some specific misuses can be predicted, but others will surely come as a surprise • General features can be examined

6. Elites • Misuse by elites likely to be far more deadly/costly than terrorism or crime • Terrorists are generally inept • Unstable arms race difficult to avoid • Massive potential cost of restricted access • Continued or aggravated poverty

7. Arms Races • Does MNT offence or defense dominate? • Many offensive and defensive techniques are empowered. Even if adequate defenses exist against every weapon, not all are likely to be deployed before the respective weapons. • However, there are reasons to question even the default economic integrity of potential arms-race participants

8. Economic Fallout • Rapid change and economic uncertainty • Increased discounting of the future • Increased interest rates • Simultaneously • Reduced cost of goods • Deflation • Bankruptcy of debtors

9. Autonomy • These considerations strongly suggest that current economic relationships will be disrupted • Note that early MNT cannot manufacture food! • The rapid distribution of MNT derived food production resources is a vital requirement • This may eliminate most of the mutual web of dependencies that constitute society • Power therefore defaults to the hands of those who cooperate for reasons other than mutual dependency (Ideology?)

10. Paved with Gold, Diamonds, and Good Intentions • Unfortunately, the most dangerous ideology may be the one represented by this convention. • Even mainstream nanotechnology should enable computers millions of times more powerful than current computers • Such computers are widely believed to be capable of supporting transhuman AI

11. You Don’t Know What That Means • It’s OK. I don’t either. • The key thing to remember is that transhuman does NOT mean “like a human with a 200 IQ only more-so” • AI systems will only have the built in evolutionary complexity of humans if they are built in imitation of humans • By itself, smart does NOT mean interesting, meaningful, or beautiful

12. Capabilities • It is possible to predict a lower bound for what a transhuman AI will be capable of by imagining a group of uploads operating at high speed • Predicting what it would use those capabilities for is much easier • An AI with a hierarchical goal system would act to fulfill its goals • No other values would be considered at all • One without a goal hierarchy might tend to drift into one • It is important to know under what circumstances it would do so