Should we push AI forward as fast as possible, or be more careful about how it develops?
Two competing views are emerging:
- e/acc (effective accelerationism): go faster, progress is the only path forward
- d/acc (defensive / decentralized acceleration): accelerate, but carefully, or risk losing control
In this episode of the a16z crypto show, Vitalik Buterin (Ethereum founder) and Guillaume Verdon aka "Beff Jezos" (Extropic founder & CEO,) join Eddy Lazzarin (a16z crypto CTO) and Shaw Walters (Eliza Labs founder) for a deep debate about these two perspectives and what they mean for AI, crypto, and the future.
They discuss:
- Whether acceleration is something we can control
- The biggest risks of AI, from surveillance to concentration of power
- Why open source and decentralization may shape who benefits
- Whether slowing down AI is realistic or even desirable
- How humans stay relevant in a world of increasingly powerful systems
- What the next 10, 100, and 1,000 years might look like
- At its core, this episode asks: Can acceleration be steered, or is that beyond our control?
Highlights:
00:00 Opening
07:02 Thermodynamics and first principles
16:04 Acceleration, entropy, and civilization
28:29 The core disagreement
32:42 Comparing and contrasting e/acc and d/acc
36:20 Open source, open hardware, and local intelligence
54:18 Should AI be slowed down?
1:02:35 Autonomous agents and artificial life
1:21:07 Crypto as the trust layer between humans and AI
1:35:37 Closing arguments
Follow a16z crypto for more...
X: https://x.com/a16zcrypto
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/a16zcrypto/posts/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@a16zcrypto
📩 Subscribe for more industry reports, trend updates, news analysis, builder guides, and other resources: https://a16zcrypto.substack.com/subscribe/
*** As always, none of the following should be taken as investment, business, legal, or tax advice. Please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
