The Future, Now and Then

“And then a miracle happens” is not a plan

It is an article of faith among Andreessen-style techno-optimists that “there is no material problem – whether created by nature or by technology – that cannot be solved with more technology.” Take this reasoning just one step further, and we can find in the dismantling of the administrative state a tremendous opportunity to replace human intelligence with machine intelligence. It just requires confidence that machine intelligence will improve fast enough to meet the need.

Silicon Valley luminaries apply the same logic to climate change. Sam Altman and his peers have taken to insisting that (1) the energy costs of artificial intelligence will grow exponentially and (2) imminent breakthroughs in cold fusion, aided by advances in AI, will sate this otherwise insatiable demand. Just a few months ago, in fact, Eric Schmitt stated, “we’re not going to hit the climate goals anyway because we are not organized to do it and yes the needs in this area [AI] will be a problem. But I’d rather bet on AI solving the problem than constraining it.” (h/t Gary Marcus)