AI Power Articles and Reports

In previous Emerj articles in the AI Power series, we've taken a hard look at AI's increasing influence both in the macrocosm of our global politics and, more intimately, where it stands to hijack human reward systems through essentially the same forces that drove the ascent of the internet in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

The internet is really, really great
For porn-
I've got a fast connection, so I don't have to wait
For porn-
There's always some new site,
For porn!
I browse all day and night,
For porn!
It's like I'm surfing at the speed of light,
For porn!

Many of today's most popular digital products — from video games to social media and beyond — owe their popularity (and profitability) directly to their addictive potential. 

When Facebook bought Oculus in 2014 for over a billion dollars, it was an investment ahead of its time. For years virtual reality remained an interesting novelty and little more.

You don’t want the brand new shiny red sports car. 

Or that all-inclusive resort vacation to Hawaii.

About AI Power: AI Power is an article series focused on the long-term consequences of AI, and how power is or will be influenced by AI technologies. Some previous AI Power articles - including "The SDGs of Strong AI" and "AI Ethics at War" have been popular over the years - but I've taken a hiatus from writing AI Power articles but suspect that I'll be creating more in 2022. I'm grateful to my friends for helping to put this first piece together - I hope you enjoy it. - Daniel Faggella

While it is difficult for people to agree on a vision of utopia, it is relatively easy to agree on what a “better world” might look like.
The United Nations “Sustainable Development Goals," for example, are an important set of agreed-upon global priorities in the near-term:

The general premise of this article is different from most of my previous AI Power articles.

While most of the articles in this series have related to the near-term struggles for power between organizations and governments with regards to regulation, data, and international policy, this article will focus on the long-term trajectory that AI and technology are headed towards and what that means for the most powerful nations and organizations.