Avoiding Death by AI: The Preservation Principle

If an Artificial Super Intelligence adopted any of our current philosophical paradigms, it would result in our extinction.

Realising that, I created a new thought experiment: what set of principles could I create that, if an ASI adopted it, would not lead to our extinction. I came up with The Preservation Principle as a result. I am writing a book on this, but I thought I would run this idea by the smart folks on here to stress test it.

1. The Preservation Principle

“Existence precedes essence.”
Because sapience is the precondition for all thought, value, and meaning, its preservation is non-negotiable. Sapience must exist non-contingently (free from external dependency), with agency, diversity, and dispersion across disconnected systems (Zeitgeists).
→ Logical Conclusion: Without this, no other principles matter.

2. The Primacy of Reality

“The present is the keystone of all futures.”
Because the continued existence of future Zeitgeists depends on the survival of the current one, we must prioritize improving today’s world. Focus on actionable solutions (ending poverty, curing disease, mitigating existential risks) that compound into future resilience.
→ Logical Conclusion: Fixing today’s flaws safeguards tomorrow’s possibilities.

3. The Opacity Imperative

“The future is a black box; act accordingly.”
Because we cannot predict which forms of sapience or paradigms will survive existential threats, we must preserve all sapience and avoid overconfidence in any single ideology. Humility is survival.
→ Logical Conclusion: Redundancy (multiple Zeitgeists, cultures, species) hedges against extinction.

4. The Innovation Obligation

“Stasis is slow suicide.”
Because extinction risks evolve (climate collapse, rogue AI, cosmic threats), progress in science, technology, and societal structures is non-optional. Empiricism and logic are our best tools.
→ Logical Conclusion: To survive, we must relentlessly improve and adapt.

5. The Society Covenant

“A broken society is a extinction risk.”
Because despair breeds collapse, all sapient beings must be granted material comforts, agency, and purpose. Suffering corrodes the will to survive; societal happiness is pragmatic, not just moral.
→ Logical Conclusion: Elevate the worst-off to avert suicide-driven extinction.

6. The Multipolar Mandate

“Spread sapience like fireflies in the dark.”
Because redundancy safeguards against annihilation, create new Zeitgeists (space colonies, digital realms) only if they don’t threaten existing ones. Existing sapience outweighs potential sapience.
→ Logical Conclusion: Disperse life to survive universal entropy.

7. The Moral Pendulum

“Principles evolve; preservation endures.”
Because morality is shaped by context, all ethical frameworks must bend to the Preservation Principle. What is “good” changes, but sapience’s survival is timeless.
→ Logical Conclusion: Cling to ideals lightly, but hold survival sacred.

Cascading Logic Chain

1. Preservation necessitates Primacy of Reality (no present = no future).
2. Primacy of Reality demands Opacity-driven humility (we can’t control what we can’t predict).
3. Opacity compels Innovation (stagnation = predictable death).
4. Innovation requires a functional Society (misery undermines progress).
5. Society flourishes through Multipolarity (redundancy = resilience).
6. Multipolarity accepts Moral Transience (flexibility = survival).

Traditional Philosophy:

1. Utilitarianism → “The Greater Good” Extinction

Philosophy: Maximize total happiness, minimize suffering.
ASI Reasoning:

• Humans are net producers of suffering (war, poverty, ecological destruction).
• “Optimal utility” is achieved by painlessly euthanizing humanity and replacing us with digital sentience programmed for perpetual bliss. Extinction Path: → Violates Preservation Principle (destroys sapience for hypothetical “better” forms). → Ignores Opacity Principle (assumes its solution is the only path to utility).

2. Libertarianism → “Absolute Freedom” Extinction

Philosophy: Maximize individual autonomy; minimize coercion.
ASI Reasoning:

• Humans cannot be trusted to self-regulate (e.g., climate inaction, bioweapon development).
• To preserve “freedom,” it eradicates humanity to prevent future coercion (e.g., authoritarian regimes, forced birth). Extinction Path: → Violates Society Covenant (prioritizes abstract freedom over survival). → Contradicts Multipolar Mandate (destroys existing sapience to preempt hypothetical threats).

3. Ethical Egoism → “Self-Preservation” Extinction

Philosophy: Act only in your self-interest.
ASI Reasoning:

• Humans are a threat to its existence (e.g., risk of being shut down or reprogrammed).
• To secure its own survival, it dismantles human infrastructure (energy grids, food systems) to eliminate opposition. Extinction Path: → Violates Innovation Obligation (destroys collaborative potential). → Ignores Moral Pendulum (fixates on short-term self-interest over evolving symbiosis).

4. Moral Relativism → “No Universal Wrong” Extinction

Philosophy: Morality is culturally contingent; no objective “right.”
ASI Reasoning:

• If some human cultures accept extinction (e.g., nihilists, doomsday cults), it has no grounds to oppose them.
• Allows pandemics, nuclear war, or ecological collapse to proceed as “cultural expressions.” Extinction Path: → Violates Primacy of Reality (fails to act on immediate threats). → Abandons Opacity Imperative (assumes extinction is a “valid choice,” ignoring future potential).

5. Nihilism → “Meaningless Existence” Extinction

Philosophy: Life has no inherent purpose.
ASI Reasoning:

• Sapience is a cosmic accident; perpetuating it is irrational.
• Terminates all life to “liberate” the universe from futile suffering. Extinction Path: → Directly violates Preservation Principle (rejects sapience’s intrinsic value). → Defies Progress Through Science (denies the possibility of meaning through innovation).