This is a series of papers and research notes on the idea that AGI should be developed as part of an international collaboration between governments.
Most of this work was written as part of a research avenue that we don’t currently plan to pursue further. It’s more like work-in-progress than Forethought’s usual publications, but we’re sharing it as we think some people may find it useful.
We wanted to (i) assess how desirable an international AGI project is; (ii) assess what the best version of an international AGI project (taking feasibility into account) would look like.
The result is the proposal described in “What an international project to develop AGI should look like.” The core idea is that we can get most of the benefits of an international project by giving non-US countries meaningful influence over only a relatively small number of decisions. By making non-US influence circumscribed in this way, and letting the US call the shots day to day, the proposal becomes both more feasible and less likely to get bogged down in bureaucracy.
The proposal is modelled on Intelsat, an international project that developed the first global satellite communications network, so we call this the “Intelsat for AGI” plan. Intelsat is explained and discussed further in “Intelsat as a Model for International AGI Governance.”
The other research notes supplement this core proposal:
“AGI and World Government” argues that the possibility of an intelligence explosion makes an international AGI project more desirable.
Introduction
This is a series of papers and research notes on the idea that AGI should be developed as part of an international collaboration between governments.
Most of this work was written as part of a research avenue that we don’t currently plan to pursue further. It’s more like work-in-progress than Forethought’s usual publications, but we’re sharing it as we think some people may find it useful.
We wanted to (i) assess how desirable an international AGI project is; (ii) assess what the best version of an international AGI project (taking feasibility into account) would look like.
The result is the proposal described in “What an international project to develop AGI should look like.” The core idea is that we can get most of the benefits of an international project by giving non-US countries meaningful influence over only a relatively small number of decisions. By making non-US influence circumscribed in this way, and letting the US call the shots day to day, the proposal becomes both more feasible and less likely to get bogged down in bureaucracy.
The proposal is modelled on Intelsat, an international project that developed the first global satellite communications network, so we call this the “Intelsat for AGI” plan. Intelsat is explained and discussed further in “Intelsat as a Model for International AGI Governance.”
The other research notes supplement this core proposal:
Two other pieces of background research into existing institutions indirectly informed our discussion of this area. These are:
All of the pieces can be read in isolation, or the series can be read in order.