Vitalik Buterin Proposes Global Pause Button for AI Development

According to PANews, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has proposed the establishment of a global 'soft pause button' to replace the potentially dangerous race for artificial general intelligence (AGI). This button would function by reducing global computing power by approximately 90%-99% for 1-2 years, allowing humanity more time to prepare. In response to this proposal, a user commented, "I strongly oppose Vitalik Buterin and d/acc's viewpoint. Without military enforcement, which clearly won't happen, pausing 90%-99% of global computing power for 1-2 years is a naive suggestion. The chances of a moderate slowdown are slim." Vitalik replied, "Yes, I agree it's a daunting task, but almost all proposals to address strong AI are difficult to some extent. I believe the key idea in this proposal is that it is less difficult than other pause ideas because it is enforced at the hardware level. Therefore, critical decisions are made before high-risk periods begin, and 'betrayal' would require manufacturing new hardware, not just secretly flipping a few switches, which would take months of preparation." Earlier today, Vitalik also mentioned that many cryptographic technologies could be applied to the thematic areas of d/acc.