The Last Invention
When it arrives, whether we can control it, and what it does to us
A website about AI that could match or outdo people at almost everything: when it might arrive, whether it can be made safe, what it would do to society, and how to get through the transition. It holds Eddie Smolyansky’s notes on the debate, researched and drafted with a lot of AI help. How this site works.
Start here
New to the debate? Read the case, step by step: the chain of claims behind the worry, from “AGI is possible” to “we may not get a second try”. Find the step where you disagree. If the worry sounds fringe, see who has said AI could be catastrophic.
Already know the arguments? Go to the cruxes, the disputed questions whose answers decide what should be done, starting with How hard is alignment. Or read the posts below, which take sides.
Follow a topic
- Intelligence and alignment — What an AI can do and what it pursues are different questions. Start with Orthogonality thesis, then follow the links toward Instrumental convergence, RSI, and AI alignment.
- Wealth and power — Income, ownership, and political influence might move in different directions. Start with UBI, then explore AI ownership, Political bargaining power, and Permanent underclass.
Read an argument
- UBI needs durable political power — What protects redistribution if labor loses leverage?
- A feedback loop is not a speed estimate — Why RSI alone does not tell us how fast change will arrive.
- The lethalities are a checklist, not a forecast — What Yudkowsky’s case that alignment will fail does and does not show.
- The SURA debate turns on how doomed Plan C is — Should safety-minded labs stop building?
- Musk’s AI position does not hold together — Why “truth-seeking AI” is not a safety plan.
These are drafts for discussion; all posts are listed newest first.
What’s here
| Section | What you’ll find |
|---|---|
| Reading paths | Routes through one topic, in an order that builds up the ideas |
| Explainers | Answers to the questions people ask first, kept up to date |
| Posts | Dated essays, each arguing one claim |
| Cruxes | Disputed questions whose answers decide what should be done, with the strongest case on each side |
| Glossary | One page per term, for when a word is unfamiliar |
| People | What key figures have said, and when |
| Sources | The books, essays, and studies behind the arguments, and the responses to them |