PROGRESSAs a result, no one knows precisely what a superintelligent com-
puter might do. An artificial intelligence that programs its own circuits
might one day come to the conclusion that eliminating the human race
is the best way to accomplish its goal. Scientists can try to program in
safeguards, but since the program evolves outside the programmers’
control, it’s impossible to know what kinds of safeguards will be robust
enough to survive the process of “optimization.” One option is to simply
stop making computers with artificial intelligence. However, that would
diminish our ability to pursue more, so we can rule that out. Dopamine
will drive the science forward whether it’s good for us or not. We may
get lucky, though. We may discover a way to ensure that artificial intelli-
gences act in ethical ways. Many experts in the field believe that should
be a top priority for computer scientists.
EVERYTHING. ALL THE TIME.Dopamine-driven technological advances make it ever easier for us to
gratify our needs and desires. Grocery store shelves are packed with
constantly changing “new and improved” products. Planes, trains, and
automobiles take us wherever we want to go, cheaper and faster than
ever before. The internet provides us with virtually unlimited entertain-
ment options, and so much cool stuff is brought to market each year
that we need crowds of journalists to keep us up to date on new ways
to spend our money.
Dopamine drives our lives faster and faster. It takes more education
to keep up. A graduate degree is as necessary today as a college edu-
cation was a generation ago. We work longer hours. There are more
memos to read, reports to write, and emails to be answered. It never
stops. We are expected to be available at all times of the day and night.
When someone at work wants us, we must respond immediately. Adver-
tisements show a smiling man responding to texts on the beach, or a
woman by the hotel pool, checking her cell phone screen to tap into a
video feed of her empty house. What a relief. Nothing happened since