1. The Inevitable Wave: AI and Synthetic Biology

This offers an extensive overview of technological waves throughout human history, beginning with a discussion of how flood myths and literal flood events demonstrate the power of unstoppable forces, which serves as a metaphor for technological change. The author argues that technology follows an immutable law of becoming cheaper, easier to use, and eventually proliferating widely in a process that defines humanity as Homo technologicus. This historical pattern, from fire and stone tools to the printing press and internal combustion engine, suggests that the mass diffusion of technology is the default and virtually unstoppable trajectory. The core focus shifts to the coming wave of the twenty-first century, defined by artificial intelligence (AI) and synthetic biology, which possess unprecedented power to engineer intelligence and life itself, creating immense wealth but also catastrophic risks. The central containment problem is introduced—the challenge of controlling these powerful, rapidly proliferating technologies to prevent unintended, potentially existential, negative consequences, a dilemma the author believes humanity must urgently address despite the historical difficulty of arresting technological spread.

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