I don’t know when — or even if — artificial general intelligence will become a reality.  But if it does, it will radically alter our society in ways which will lead to the destabilization of the world order.  To avoid the worst of the possible consequences brought about by this seismic change, the governments of the United States, China, and other countries will need to begin cooperating and planning today.

What will be needed is “a global architecture of trust and governance” over these “systems that will be as smart or smarter than the smartest humans and able to learn and act on their own” “to make sure we effectively control these rapidly advancing A.I. systems” so as to avoid destabilizing tomorrow’s world.

The two countries making the most advances in the development of artificial general intelligence are the United States and China.  There are those who believe that artificial general intelligence will become a reality before the end of President Trump’s second term.  This means that if the system of trust and governance required to control artificial general intelligence is to be put in place in time, it will need to be done by President Trump in cooperation with China’s president Xi Jin-ping.  Good luck with that.

A.I. systems and humanoid robots will be “hugely destructive and destabilizing if not imbedded with the right values and controls”.  Without U.S.-Chinese cooperation, they will not have the necessary values and controls as each country will seek advantages over the other in what could become an artificial-general-intelligence-enhanced struggle for global dominance fought by a new species on each side — the superintelligent machine.

Here are two things to consider:  Artificial general intelligence will take over vast numbers of jobs.  There will be far fewer jobs for humans who will lose both the dignity work provides them as well as the income they earn from working.  Millions of people suffering both the loss of income and loss of dignity is a formula for societal destabilization — and possibly collapse.  Second, with artificial intelligence built into every product from cars to toasters, the U.S. and China will stop all trade between the countries because neither side will trust the products it is importing from the other.

Artificial general intelligence is being created by human beings.  People are at heart evil and immoral.  The A.I. systems people are developing will lack any appropriate controls and will adopt the values of their human creators — they will adhere to no moral code.  If governments don’t insure that these superintelligent computers adhere to a moral code and are subject to strict, internationally-enforceable governance, artificial general intelligence will devour us.