> The misguided focus on containment is a belated echo of the nuclear age, when the United States and others limited the spread of atomic bombs by restricting access to enriched uranium, by keeping an eye on what certain scientists were doing and by sending inspectors into labs and military bases.<p>I feel there's another comparison that might be relevant, which is comparatively newer and a little closer to the current problem: Past attempts to block the export and foreign-development of encryption. [0]<p>> If the inevitable proliferation of A.I. endangers our cybersecurity, for example, instead of just regulating exports, it’s time to harden our networked infrastructure — which will also protect it against the ever-present threat of hacking, by random agents or hostile governments.<p>> And instead of fantasizing about how some future rogue A.I. could attack us, it’s time to start thinking clearly about how corporations and governments could use the A.I. that’s available right now to entrench their dominance, erode our rights, worsen inequality.<p>Yes, we should be more-focused on what humans (and indirectly corporations) will <i>choose</i> to use (or abuse) the technology for, and less time theorizing about a hypothetical AI overlord's mentality.<p>[0] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Export_of_cryptography_from_the_United_States" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Export_of_cryptography_from_th...</a>