The Baptists’, Bootleggers’ and why AI will save the world
“The Baptists And Bootleggers Of AI
Economists have observed a longstanding pattern in reform movements of this kind. The actors within movements like these fall into two categories – “Baptists” and “Bootleggers” – drawing on the historical example of the prohibition of alcohol in the United States in the 1920’s:
👉 “Baptists” are the true believer social reformers who legitimately feel – deeply and emotionally, if not rationally – that new restrictions, regulations, and laws are required to prevent societal disaster. For alcohol prohibition, these actors were often literally devout Christians who felt that alcohol was destroying the moral fabric of society.
For AI risk, these actors are true believers that AI presents one or another existential risks – strap them to a polygraph, they really mean it.
👉 “Bootleggers” are the self-interested opportunists who stand to financially profit by the imposition of new restrictions, regulations, and laws that insulate them from competitors. For alcohol prohibition, these were the literal bootleggers who made a fortune selling illicit alcohol to Americans when legitimate alcohol sales were banned.
For AI risk, these are CEOs who stand to make more money if regulatory barriers are erected that form a cartel of government-blessed AI vendors protected from new startup and open source competition – the software version of “too big to fail” banks.”
As I read through this, it strikes me about how much this is driven by Western Philosophy – we keep up with China or we lose.
And while I am an equally optimistic proponent of tech for good, this leans towards painting a rosy picture without necessarily calling out the challenges in getting to what we all seek –
Building a future we would like our kids to live in.
https://a16z.com/2023/06/06/ai-will-save-the-world/
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