There should be more talk about concentration of power, decoupling from the masses, and social fragmentation around here.

Disruptive technologies amplify the economic inequality gap within countries, and between countries.

• New technologies, like automation or farming, quickly benefit a few number of people, basically the owners
  • As new technology emerges, the general population will see wage stagnation, job displacements, and will be able to get some benefit from the new technology only after a long time
• New disruptive technologies tend to directly benefit fewer and fewer people, while a larger side of the population has less to offer
  • While it is true that often new technologies will increase the benefits for everybody, e.g. more food, on the other hand the gap between people is humongous (e.g. food quality is way different), and who owns the food can steer the choices of the many
• At some point, the few people will not need anymore the general population to reach certain goals, and this can go on and on, especially with an exponential increase in technology (just look for the fact that now tech companies basically dwarf most of the others, and in the past century we had manufacturing companies, so these has never reached the power of the tech companies)
• Coupled to the fact that human individuals in the most developed countries are becoming more and more individualistic, with capillary technology it will be very easy for powerful players with amazing technology to steer humanity

Which are the consequences of this? I do not see many people discussing it on the forum. 

While it is true that the AI itself might doom humanity, I consider human dynamics to be a greater threat (just for the fact that investing in AI can increase the likelihood of these fewer people to own the world, and this might increase the likelihood of humanity AI doom).

This is a better defined problem to the usual AI safety talk. I think it should be something that needs to be addressed asap with public discourse. We need to focus on the right things in my opinion. 

It might also have some implicit benefits on usual AI safety (and to be sincere, I do not see current AI research level at the level of research in math or fundamental physics, where first principles approaches and taking your own time to deeply think about problems are preferred, but this is another topic for another day).

From https://sciencepolicy.colorado.edu/students/envs_5110/collins_the_golem.pdf, Introduction:

...Both these ideas of science are wrong and dangerous. The personality of science is neither that of a chivalrous knight nor that of a pitiless juggernaut. What, then, is science? Science is a golem.

A golem is a creature of Jewish mythology. It is a humanoid made by man from clay and water, with incantations and spells. It is powerful. It grows a little more powerful every day. It will follow orders, do your work, and protect you from the ever threatening enemy. But it is clumsy and dangerous. Without control, a golem may destroy its masters with its flailing vigour.

The idea of a golem takes on different connotations in different legends. In some the golem is terrifyingly evil, but there is a more homely tradition: in the Yiddish brought from the East European ghetto, a golem (pronounced 'goilem' in that dialect), is a metaphor...

And similarly, from https://xcelab.net/rmpubs/sr2/statisticalrethinking2_chapters1and2.pdf, Chapter 1 (bolding is mine):

A golem (goh-lem) is a clay robot from Jewish folklore, constructed from dust and fire and water. It is brought to life by inscribing emet, Hebrew for “truth,” on its brow. Animated by truth, but lacking free will, a golem always does exactly what it is told. This is lucky, because the golem is incredibly powerful, able to withstand and accomplish more than its creators could. However, its obedience also brings danger, as careless instructions or unexpected events can turn a golem against its makers. Its abundance of power is matched by its lack of wisdom. In some versions of the golem legend, Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel sought a way to defend the Jews of Prague. As in many parts of 16th century Central Europe, the Jews of Prague were persecuted. Using secret techniques from the Kabbalah, Rabbi Judah was able to build a golem, animate it with “truth,” and order it to defend the Jewish people of Prague. Not everyone agreed with Judah’s action, fearing unintended consequences of toying with the power of life. Ultimately Judah was forced to destroy the golem, as its combination of extraordinary power with clumsiness eventually led to innocent deaths. Wiping away one letter from the inscription emet to spell instead met, “death,” Rabbi Judah decommissioned the robot.

If a machine passes the standard Turing test, this might be enough to take over humans, even if the machine is not aware of this. So, in principle you do not even need super-intelligence.

I had a look at "AI as Normal Technology", and some of the other writing of its authors. I thought it was two amateurs, until I checked their backgrounds. Astonishing how AI space is so random.

If you want a serious read check out for example Energy and Civilization: A History, by Vaclav Smil.

I see no difference between the principles underlying a financial system that builds products to please a few, and a social system that allows anybody to be anything to please a few.

Both serve a relatively small number of people. Both are based on a kind of freedom of expression that puts the individual in the center. One has been proven to be a very unreliable system that has been leading to crises and human suffering. The other one, will just be a matter of time.

There is a proliferation of too much freedom, meaning no freedom.

I think most of the people on LW can not see it. I believe the reason is due to social class. The average poster on LW comes from a relatively privileged economic and social environment that has led them in positions to rule over the others.

The consequence is that few people, mainly due to luck (for a random event that happened in the past), end up setting policies and ways of thinking upon the rest of the people.

As an example, there has been a lot of talk about creating programs that push for more professors/executives from a certain group of people. I can see today that they just ended up pooling from the same middle-upper classes that has been filling universities for years. On the other hand, the people with no voice are still in the same situation. You have no idea of how harsh life is for lots of people.

There seem some sort of air going around that we are a better society compared to the past. People grab random numbers, like the number of people above some poverty line, to say that we know better.

Even if we might have more technology compared to humans that lived one thousands years ago, I doubt that we are wiser.

The are books that have been written and rules that have served humans well, as a society as a whole. There are mistakes that humans have repeatedly done in the past. Why did we forget?

One of the consequences of this kind of thinking in this law-less society is that not everybody is born equal. I am disgusted by the disregard of the ruling class that they know better.

A lot of this is implicit, but I can see this around having interacted with people from privileged and not privileged backgrounds (and everything else in the middle).

We need to come back to fundamental principles. And the first one, is the importance of traditional family values, that see people in the unit of the boat.

If you do not see the catastrophe that is upon us as humans, then I hope you wake up.