Imagine.

Imagine an AGI teaching itself to be a Ph.D. level cancer researcher.

Now imagine making a million copies of this.

Imagine a million Ph.D. level cancer researchers chipping away at the problem, pursuing different paths, and effectively coordinating their findings.

Realize that AGIs have many advantages over human researchers

1. They cost a lot less

2. They can easily share knowledge gained (also, no egos getting in the way)

3. They work 24/7 at full focus

4. They don’t have certain (highly desirable) human ‘distractions’

5. They have photographic memory

6. Have direct, immediate access to all the information in the world

7. And they are much better at logical thinking than we are (which for humans, is only an evolutionary afterthought — we’re not very good at it)

Imagine the progress we’ll make.

Now replicate this across other problem domains: Energy, pollution, nanotechnology, other diseases, ageing, governance, etc.

Naturally, research isn’t the only area that will benefit from AGIs. Any cognitive, desk-bound job can be replaced with an AGI – dramatically lowering the cost of goods and services, bringing about radical abundance.

As AGI helps to fully develop effective robotics, physical labor jobs will also be automated.

Human employment will become optional for everyone — allowing us to focus on things we want to pursue; be it raising children, arts, helping uplift others, or exploring the universe.

Another application of AGI to enhance human flourishing is what I call a ‘Personal Personal (Personal) Assistant’. Almost everyone I talk to loves the idea: A super smart and useful AI assistant characterized by three different meanings of ‘personal’.

1. You own it, it serves your agenda, not some megacorporation’s

2. Hyper-personalized to you. It gets to know your history, goals, values, quirks, relationships, etc.

3. Privacy. You decide what you want to share with whom and when

Such a wise, helpful AI companion will not only do the ‘dirty work’ for us (like dealing with banks, insurance, utilities, etc.) but will also help us make better decisions, help us think things through, and help us overcome difficulties in life. By helping us avoid decisions that we later regret, it makes us a better person.

Now let’s move beyond imagining and help make this future happen!