Transhuman governance
Where and how does artificial intelligence and political governance converge? What would be an ideal system for humans and AI to align with?
Political leaders around the world use social research to inform every decision they make from whether to run for election, the colour of outfit for a speech, to which public policy ought to be implemented. Meanwhile, social media applications like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter have enormous repositories of consumer data enabling algorithms to logically predict the behaviors, needs, and desires of billions of people. This dimension and scale of information about the human condition has never previously existed. Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter know more about an individual’s intimate thoughts than their parents, preacher, or political representatives. How could we use this technology to shape global politics?
The present technological idea frontier is the design and implementation of Web3. Web3 is promising to decentralize the internet to offer builders and users more access, freedom, security, and resources. This creates a tension with the trend of centralization and stricter social controls occurring within nation-states. How do we reconcile a state’s desire for centralized power and a populist movement for decentralization?
Would an algorithm make a good queen or king? An artificial intelligence analyzing history would see hereditary monarchies are the most stable form of governance and could reasonably conclude that there need be a single ruler of the world. Monarchs throughout history have been appointed by gods, inherited kingdoms through family, or even purchased their crown. Is it feasible for a computer to become or select the perfect ruler of our global lives? A super-computer has the supranatural capacity to process incomprehensible amounts of information about the world and people in it. Meaning, Amazon Web Services is closer to Allah than we may be comfortable admitting…
This research project will answer these questions by analyzing and comparing the structure, capabilities, and ethics of a global theocratic imperial technocracy.
MethodologyThis study will utilize a mixture of qualitative and quantitative research methods to better understand what an ideal form of artificial intelligence governance might be. The field of artificial intelligence is emergent and data collection will require structured interviews with thought leaders, lab testing along with my observations and reflections in addition to a continuous review of literature.
Subjects for the interviews will be taken from a cross-section of professionals, leaders, and academics—such as computer scientists, local politicians, royalty, clergy, and laymen.
Lab experimentation will observe and collect data from volunteers involved in a model of a theocratic imperial technocracy.
Analysis of dataAnalysis will be exploratory, descriptive, predictive, and inferential of the data acquired through labs, models, transcribed interviews, statistical packages, and historical comparisons.
Literature reviewLiterature on artificial intelligence governance is scant—a situation this proposal intends to rectify. However, the issues of governance we see today and will see tomorrow are similar, with the differences being the scope of interests to be represented, the need for competition in military-economic domains, and finally what is at stake.[1]
“They that are discontented under monarchy, call it tyranny; and they that are displeased with aristocracy, call it oligarchy: so also, they which find themselves grieved under a democracy, call it anarchy, which signifies the want of government; and yet I think no man believes, that want of government, is any new kind of government.”[2]
When contemplating ideal structures of governance, we must consider how we are all drinking old wine in new bottles. Artificial intelligence governance merely presents the possibility of a supreme decision maker or advisor with super-human intelligence, which are not new concepts. The variables of structural design and possibilities are in essence the same as they have been throughout history. Do we design a structure of governance that is authoritarian, democratic, or a mixture? Do we design a structure that aligns power along verticals or horizontals?
If we can build an intelligence of superior virtue and practical wisdom, then it would be the natural choice for us all to obey such an intelligence gladly.[3]
My hypothesis is a theocratic imperial technocracy would be the ideal system of governance. Theocratic in the context that institutions of faith support the system. Imperial in the context that the system encompasses the globe under a sovereign. Technocratic in the context that the system cooperates with an artificial intelligence.
Limitations and delimitationsTime, space, and access are hard limits. One limit to this research is the presently available information and literature about artificial intelligence governance. Much of the knowledge about the subject still needs to be produced. Additionally, the boundaries and capabilities of artificial intelligence are not fully comprehended. Are we even capable of creating an intelligence of superior virtue? Measuring and scaling the qualitative benefits of a theocratic imperial technocracy will be difficult. Finally, I don’t know enough yet to know what needs to be excluded.
[1] Bostrom, Nick, Allan Dafoe, and Carrick Flynn. Public Policy and Superintelligent AI: A Vector Field Approach. Future of Humanity Institute, 2018. http://www.nickbostrom.com/papers/aipolicy.pdf
[2] Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan. Edited by J. C. A. Gaskin, Oxford University Press, 2008
[3] Aristotle. Aristotle's Politics. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905
