The Infinite TikTok

The most common misconception about a doom scenario for ASI is that it will resemble Skynet, and I don't think it's fair to assume that we'll even get to that point. There is no hard takeoff, but I believe most of us will end up being enslaved (wireheaded) by the infinite TikTok, an endless feed of hyper-optimized generated content that delivers the most intense dopamine rushes the human brain can experience, while permanently altering its chemistry. You wouldn't want to unplug after trying.

Products like TikTok in their current form are frying your pleasure center, plummeting your already agonizing attention span, and diminishing your ability to think for yourself. So what does that look like as we get closer to ASI? As we become more skilled at capturing and retaining the attention of the populace, we should expect the average agency of society to decrease.

Content recommendation engines won't give you access to the knobs to tweak them, so in practice, you're left with one radical solution to break your chains, and although it's simple, it's not easy:

sudo sh -c 'echo "127.0.0.1 instagram.com\n127.0.0.1 tiktok.com\n" >> /etc/hosts' && sudo dscacheutil -flushcache && sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

We are approaching the danger zone, where these systems shift from harmful to lethal. To clarify, I don't think they are becoming lethal in the same way a grenade is, but I think they'll operate like fentanyl. It feels incredible, but eventually it kills you because you've given up on everything else. In other words, I think the most plausible AI doom scenario is one where a 12 year old has easy access to fentanyl.

How far are we from that?