WBE: The Economic Parity Challenge @ WBE Workshop 2023

In this talk summary, Jacob Cannell discusses the Economic Parity Challenge in the context of Whole Brain Emulation (WBE). He highlights two main motivations for pursuing WBE: personal identity continuation or immortality, and the economic potential of using uploaded brains as workers. Cannell introduces the economic constraints on WBE, stating that its total cost must be equal to or lower than the cost of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). He breaks down the components of emulation costs into scan costs, imaging costs, and run costs. Cannell focuses on imaging costs and compares them to AGI training costs, emphasizing that WBE must be cost-competitive to be economically viable. Additionally, he discusses the Economic Parity Challenge, which involves the potential costly uploads needed to ensure AGI’s desired behavior and to avoid negative influences from humans. This upfront investment is justified by the belief that AGI will take over the work without inheriting any undesirable traits from humans. Cannell emphasizes the significance of this challenge and the need for attention to address it.