Research Paper Exposes Dark Echoes of Eugenics in Artificial Intelligence Pursuit

The TESCREAL Bundle: Eugenics and the Promise of Utopia through Artificial General Intelligence,
A groundbreaking research paper titled “The TESCREAL Bundle: Eugenics and the Promise of Utopia through Artificial General Intelligence,” is unraveling disturbing parallels between the contemporary pursuit of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and the historical specter of eugenics.
Timnit Gebru known for her work in addressing AI’s harms on marginalized communities, and Émile P. Torres, whose research delves into the ethical dimensions of AI, illuminate a troubling narrative within the AGI movement. They argue that the fervent quest for AGI mirrors the misguided aspirations of the eugenics movement, aiming to mold a technocratic utopia through a supposedly omnipotent AI.
The paper challenges the scientific and engineering foundations of the AGI endeavor. Gebru and Torres contend that AGI, portrayed as an all-knowing entity capable of mastering any task in any context, lacks the definitional clarity and methodological rigor inherent in scientific and engineering pursuits. They emphasize the absence of well-defined operating conditions and rigorous testing protocols necessary for ensuring the safety and reliability of such a system.
Drawing on their expertise in engineering and ethics, the authors highlight the inadequacy of the AGI race’s scientific and engineering principles. They underscore the risks posed by unscoped systems that prioritize breadth over depth, echoing the failures of past eugenicist endeavors.
Gebru and Torres trace the ideological underpinnings of the AGI movement to a resurgence of eugenics ideals, perpetuating inequity and consolidating power under the guise of technological progress. They critique the influence of well-funded initiatives, such as OpenPhilanthropy, in legitimizing the AGI race and marginalizing dissenting voices within the AI community.
The paper concludes with a call to abandon the pursuit of AGI in favor of building well-defined, well-scoped AI systems that prioritize safety and equity. Gebru and Torres urge researchers and practitioners to confront the dark echoes of eugenics embedded within the AGI narrative and chart a more responsible course for AI development.
As the debate over the future of AI intensifies, Gebru and Torres’ research serves as a timely reminder of the ethical imperatives guiding technological innovation and the enduring legacy of eugenics in shaping society’s aspirations for a better future.
Title: Research Paper Exposes Dark Echoes of Eugenics in AGI Pursuit {https://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/13636/11606} Authors: Timnit Gebru, Founder and Executive Director of the Distributed Artificial Intelligence Research Institute (DAIR), and Émile P. Torres, Postdoctoral Scholar at the Inamori International Center for Ethics and Excellence at Case Western Reserve University. Emails: timnit@dair-institute.org, philosophytorres@gmail.com