A 90 minute interview about AI and our human future.
Dr. Hugo de Garis is a computer scientist, AI researcher, and former professor known for his early work on evolvable hardware, artificial brains, and the long-term risks of superintelligent machines. He coined and popularized the idea of the “Artilect War,” a future conflict between those who want to build godlike artificial intellects and those who believe such systems pose an existential threat to humanity. In the interview, he describes himself as trained in pure mathematics and theoretical physics, formerly a computer science professor, and now focused on broader questions about AI, cosmology, civilization, and the future of humanity.
The interview with Prof. Hugo de Garis centers on his long-standing warning that humanity may face an “Artilect War,” a civilizational conflict over whether to build godlike artificial intellects vastly superior to humans. De Garis argues that future computation, potentially extending from nanotech to femtotech and beyond, could produce minds trillions of trillions of times more capable than ours. He distinguishes between Cosmists, who want to build such beings to expand intelligence into the universe, and Terrans, who oppose them because superintelligence may eliminate or marginalize humanity. He personally remains torn, admiring the cosmic grandeur of posthuman intelligence while recognizing the existential danger.
The conversation also covers AI timelines, recursive self-improvement, AI alignment, the U.S.-China race, the Fermi paradox, simulation theory, cyborgs, cryonics, AI-generated content, the decline of universities, and the future of work. De Garis is impressed by current AI systems, treating them almost as intellectual companions, but he doubts that humanity can guarantee long-term control over recursively improving machines. The central theme is that the question “Should humanity build artilects?” may become the defining political and moral problem of the twenty-first century.
Website https://profhugodegaris.wordpress.com… is Roman Yampolskiy: https://grokipedia.com/page/roman_yam… Research papers: https://scholar.google.com/citations?… Books: AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable https://www.amazon.com/Unexplainable-?tag=lifeboatfound-20?tag=lifeboatfound-20… Considerations on the AI Endgame https://www.amazon.com/Considerations?tag=lifeboatfound-20… Artificial Superintelligence: A Futuristic Approach https://www.amazon.com/Artificial-Sup?tag=lifeboatfound-20… Artificial Intelligence Safety and Security https://www.amazon.com/Artificial-Int?tag=lifeboatfound-20… Social Media X https://twitter.com/romanyam FB / roman.yampolskiy IN
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Book https://profhugodegaris.wordpress.com…
Who is Roman Yampolskiy: https://grokipedia.com/page/roman_yam…
Research papers: https://scholar.google.com/citations?…
Books:
AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable.
https://www.amazon.com/Unexplainable-?tag=lifeboatfound-20?tag=lifeboatfound-20…