AI as Normal Technology
To view AI as normal is not to understate its impact—even transformative, general-purpose technologies such as electricity and the internet are “normal” in our conception. But it is in contrast to both utopian and dystopian visions of the future of AI which have a common tendency to treat it akin to a separate species, a highly autonomous, potentially superintelligent entity.1 1. The superintelligent will: Motivation and instrumental rationality in advanced artificial agents.
- ▪To view AI as normal is not to understate its impact—even transformative, general-purpose technologies such as electricity and the internet are “normal” in our conception.
- ▪But it is in contrast to both utopian and dystopian visions of the future of AI which have a common tendency to treat it akin to a separate species, a highly autonomous, potentially superintelligent entity.1 1.
- ▪The superintelligent will: Motivation and instrumental rationality in advanced artificial agents.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Sébastien A. Krier using Midjourney 6.1 Essays and Scholarship AI as Normal Technology An alternative to the vision of AI as a potential superintelligence By Arvind Narayanan & Sayash Kapoor April 15, 2025 Artificial Intelligence and Democratic Freedoms A project studying how advanced AI systems may harm, or help strengthen, democratic freedoms We articulate a vision of artificial intelligence (AI) as normal technology. To view AI as normal is not to understate its impact—even transformative, general-purpose technologies such as electricity and the internet are “normal” in our conception.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Knight First Amendment Institute.
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