Most people are worried about doomsday scenarios relating to AI, in which AI will cause severe harm to humanity and the planet. But there might be risks if AI improves things a little too much as well.
Amidst widespread anxieties about artificial intelligence leading to job losses, autonomous weapons, or even human extinction, Amjad Masad, the CEO of the popular online coding platform Replit, offers a different, perhaps more insidious, perspective on the potential risks. Instead of focusing solely on catastrophic failures or malicious AI, Masad points towards a future where AI-driven technology becomes too successful at fulfilling human desires, leading to a scenario reminiscent of science fiction dystopias like The Matrix, but driven by pleasure rather than overt control. He connects this possibility to a potential solution for the famous Fermi Paradox.
Speaking about his concerns regarding AI’s trajectory, Masad outlines a scenario involving advanced virtual reality combined with powerful AI:
“I think a more generalized problem there is creating virtualized environments via VR, where everyone is living in their own created universe,” Masad stated. “It’s so enticing and even simulates work and similarly struggle, such that you don’t really need to leave this world.”
He fears this could lead to a profound societal shift: “And so every one of us will be solipsistic, similar to the Matrix.”
Masad then draws a fascinating parallel to a long-standing question in astrophysics – the Fermi Paradox:
“Professor Fermi asked the question: if the universe is that vast, then where are the aliens? The fact that humans exist, you can deduce that other civilizations exist. And if they do exist, then why don’t we see them?”
He explains that numerous potential answers, or “Fermi Solutions,” have been proposed. Masad highlights one particularly sobering possibility relevant to the rise of advanced technology:
“One of the saddest outcomes is that civilizations progressed until they invent technology that will lock us into infinite pleasure and infinite simulation, such that we don’t have the motivation to go into space to seek out the exploration of potentially other alien civilizations,” he suggests.
This lack of outward drive, born from perfectly simulated internal satisfaction, could be a common fate for intelligent species, according to Masad:
“Perhaps that is a determined outcome of humanity, or a highly likely outcome of any species like humanity. We like pleasure; pleasure and pain are the main motivators. And so, if you create an infinite pleasure machine, does that mean that we’re just at home in our VR environment with everything taken care of for us, literally like The Matrix?”
Masad’s perspective shifts the conversation about AI risk from external threats – the killer robots or the rogue superintelligence – to an internal one: the erosion of human drive and purpose. In a world where AI can potentially generate endlessly novel entertainment, perfectly simulate social interactions, provide effortless comfort, and even mimic the satisfaction of overcoming challenges within a virtual space, the impetus to engage with the complexities, hardships, and genuine discoveries of the real world could diminish.
This vision resonates strongly with current technological trends. We see burgeoning advancements in virtual and augmented reality, with companies investing heavily in creating immersive digital “Metaverses.” Simultaneously, generative AI models are becoming increasingly sophisticated at creating personalised content, experiences, and even companionship. This idea has been discussed in popular culture too — in the Black Mirror episode ‘San Junipero’, individuals can upload their consciousness to a virtual reality paradise called San Junipero after their physical death. This allows them to live forever in youthful bodies, experiencing a seemingly endless summer. Masad’s concern is that the convergence of these technologies could create a siren call too powerful for humanity to resist – an “infinite pleasure machine” that satisfies our core motivations so completely that exploration, innovation, and even procreation beyond the simulation become irrelevant. The potential “Great Filter” described in some Fermi Paradox solutions wouldn’t be an external cataclysm, but an internal stagnation born of technological bliss. While less dramatic than AI-fueled warfare, this outcome too represents a profound existential risk to human potential — and our place in the cosmos.