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The original was posted on /r/singularity by /u/Georgeo57 on 2023-08-15 01:13:49+00:00.

As Google, Microsoft and the other corporate giants create more and more powerful AI systems, it is easily conceivable that those systems will be able to outsmart even the most intelligent government systems developed by the NSA, FBI, CIA and other intelligence agencies as well as systems run by the Department of Defense. That, of course, poses existential national security concerns.

Then there is the increasing risk of one of the corporate giants developing a financial AI system capable of cornering the world’s financial markets in a matter of days or weeks, leading to massive transfers of wealth that could easily extend beyond national borders.

Corporations are amoral. They’re not structured to be concerned with the welfare of either the citizens of a country or the citizens of the world. So what would happen if they became so powerful that they easily and unstoppably secured the welfare of their stakeholders at the expense of the welfare of the citizens of the United States and of every other country in the world?

Is regulation the answer? Perhaps in part, but I think the much smarter answer is for the United States and the other countries of the world to get into the AI game big time. And I mean big time. Google financially dwarfs every other corporate competitor in the AI race, and that means that they are probably unstoppable. But guess what? The United States financially dwarfs Google. Google would be no match for the United States in AI development.

When democracies run like they are intended, they are of the people, by the people and for the people. When corporations run like they are intended they are of the stakeholders, by the stakeholders and for the stakeholders. The problem, of course, is that corporate stakeholders represent a minuscule proportion of the population of the United States and of every other country in the world.

As corporate AIs become more and more intelligent they will become more and more powerful. It is easily conceivable that with their superior intelligence they could become more powerful than the United States. Politics is about influencing minds, and sufficiently intelligent AIs could run circles around our current non-AI political system.

The question before us is simple; do we want the most powerful AI in the hands of a few who have no vested interest in the welfare of the many or do we want such a powerful AI tool in the hands of the many for the welfare of the many?

Let me be clear. I’m not at all advocating getting in the way of Google and the other AI companies. Let them create AI systems that are as intelligent as they possibly can be. And let them do it as soon as they can. But let us as countries create AIs that are even more intelligent, so we play it smart, and safe.

Will we risk allow AI corporations to run our world? This is a question that the United States and every other country in the world must ask itself. This is also a question that the poorer countries must ask themselves. While individually they may not be as rich as Google, if they formed AI collectives, they could easily compete with Google and the other corporate giants.

Because AI can be a force for so much evil, it is incumbent upon the United States and the other countries of the world to make sure that the most powerful AIs are in the hands of democracies rather than in the hands of the stakeholders of very powerful corporations.

Because AIs can be a force for so much good, it is incumbent upon the United States and the other countries of the world to develop our own AIs that are more powerful than those of Google, Microsoft and Amazon so that we can do much more good for everyone.

Our world governments must get into the AI game because of the evil that doing so could prevent and because of the good that doing so could make happen. It’s the intelligent thing to do.