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Risks of astronomical suffering From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Suffering risks, or s-risks, are risks involving an astronomical amount of suffering; much more than all of the suffering that has occurred on Earth thus far.[2][3] They are sometimes categorized as a subclass of existential risks.[4]
Sources of possible s-risks include embodied artificial intelligence[5] and superintelligence,[6] as well as space colonization, which could potentially lead to "constant and catastrophic wars"[7] and an immense increase in wild animal suffering by introducing wild animals, who "generally lead short, miserable lives full of sometimes the most brutal suffering", to other planets, either intentionally or inadvertently.[8]
Steven Umbrello, an AI ethics researcher, has warned that biological computing may make system design more prone to s-risks.[5]
Induced amnesia has been proposed as a way to mitigate s-risks in locked-in conscious AI and certain AI-adjacent biological systems like brain organoids.[9]
David Pearce has argued that genetic engineering is a potential s-risk. Pearce argues that while technological mastery over the pleasure-pain axis and solving the hard problem of consciousness could lead to the potential eradication of suffering, it could also potentially increase the level of contrast in the hedonic range that sentient beings could experience. He argues that these technologies might make it feasible to create "hyperpain" or "dolorium" that experience levels of suffering beyond the human range. He also argues that there are other potential S-risks that are more exotic, such as those posed by the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics.[10]
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