110 - Can we pause AI Development? Evidence from the history of technological restraint

In this episode, I chat to Matthijs Maas about pausing AI development. Matthijs is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Legal Priorities Project and a Research Affiliate at the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk at the University of Cambridge. In our conversation, we focus on the possibility of slowing down or limiting the development of technology. Many people are sceptical of this possibility but Matthijs has been doing some extensive research of historical case studies of, apparently successful, technological slowdown. We discuss these case studies in some detail. You can download the episode here or listen below. You can also subscribe the podcast on Apple, Spotify, Google, Amazon or whatever your preferred service might be. Relevant LinksRecording of Matthijs's Chalmers about this topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vn4ADfyrJ0Y&t=2s Slides from this talk -- https://drive.google.com/file/d/1J9RW49IgSAnaBHr3-lJG9ZOi8ZsOuEhi/view?usp=share_linkPrevious essay / primer, laying out the basics of the argument:  https://verfassungsblog.de/paths-untaken/Incomplete longlist database of candidate case studies: https://airtable.com/shrVHVYqGnmAyEGsz #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } /* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */ Subscribe to the newsletter