The goal here is not an AI overlord that runs everything, it is: how do computation and intelligence capacities make new collective intelligence possible such that you can have the global coordination to prevent global catastrophic failures, but where that system has checks and balances in it so you don’t have centralized power, coordination, and corruption failures?

Artificial Intelligence and the Superorganism (2023)

Portrait of Daniel Schmachtenberger

Daniel Schmachtenberger

Social Philosopher and Systems Thinker

Daniel Schmachtenberger is a founding member of The Consilience Project, aimed at improving public sensemaking and dialogue. The throughline of his interests has to do with ways of improving the health and development of individuals and society, with a virtuous relationship between the two as a goal. Towards these ends, he’s had particular interest in the topics of catastrophic and existential risk, civilization and institutional decay and collapse as well as progress, collective action problems, social organization theories, and the relevant domains in philosophy and science.

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Artificial Intelligence and the Superorganism

Daniel Schmachtenberger and Nate Hagens discuss a surprisingly overlooked risk to our global systems and planetary stability: artificial intelligence. Through a systems perspective, Daniel and Nate piece together the biophysical history that has led humans to this point, heading towards (and beyond) numerous planetary boundaries, and facing geopolitical risks all with existential consequences. How does artificial intelligence not only add to these risks, but accelerate the entire dynamic of the metacrisis? What is the role of intelligence versus wisdom on our current global pathway, and can we change course? Does artificial intelligence have a role to play in creating a more stable system, or will it be the tipping point that drives our current one out of control?

Game Theory, False Narratives, Survival, Life Advice

Daniel Schmachtenberger challenges conventional notions of progress, arguing that technological advancement has created unintended consequences. While individuals and organizations optimize for their own success, this creates collective harm through environmental degradation and social inequality—a classic tragedy of the commons scenario. He contends that our narrow definition of progress ignores these negative externalities, effectively making the traditional progress narrative false. Instead, Schmachtenberger advocates for redefining progress to encompass the holistic well-being of humanity and the environment.