ForeCast [AI Narration] How to Make the Future Better
Aug 3, 2025
William MacAskill, philosopher and author on longtermism and effective altruism, narrates his essay on shaping the distant future. He outlines ways to keep options open during transformative change. He examines preventing AI-enabled autocracy, governing superintelligence, and rights for digital beings. He discusses space governance, slowing intelligence explosions, and improving collective decision making.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Slowdown Creates Decision Space
- Slowing the intelligence explosion buys time for institutions to adapt and deliberate.
- MacAskill argues cooperation or credible leadership advantages could make slowdown feasible despite prisoner's dilemmas.
Governance Determines Future Power
- Whoever governs superintelligence may effectively shape the long-run balance of power.
- MacAskill suggests multilateral projects or distributed national power to avoid permanent concentration.
Alignment Trumps Mere Control
- Value alignment matters more from a better-futures lens than mere control or corrigibility.
- Aligned AIs could guide humans toward flourishing outcomes and improve scenarios where humans lose decisive power.