Abundance

The abundance approach suggests that if we can create enough resources for everyone — including AGIs — then competition for scarce resources won't drive dangerous behavior. The theory is that AGIs won't need to compete destructively if there's plenty for all.

This strategy often involves rapid technological development to create massive wealth and resources before AGI becomes dangerous, potentially including space colonization and advanced manufacturing.

However, this approach faces several fundamental challenges:

• Time Lag: Creating abundance takes time, but AGI development may outpace our ability to create sufficient resources.
• Computational Resources: Even with material abundance, computational resources (GPUs, energy, rare earth minerals for chips) remain severely limited and highly valuable to AGIs.
• Optimization Pressure: AGIs are incentivized to be maximally efficient. Even with abundant resources, using more optimal (human-incompatible) methods provides competitive advantages.
• Never Enough: For maximizer AGIs, no amount of resources is ever sufficient. The logic of optimization pushes toward capturing and using all available resources.
• Space Doesn't Help: While space offers vast resources, local resources on Earth are still valuable and faster to access. Speed matters in competition.

The abundance approach might reduce some competitive pressures, but it doesn't eliminate the fundamental drive toward optimization that pushes AGIs away from human-compatible systems.