Centralized Off-Switch

One actually-promising approach is to add an off-switch — a hardware-level control in GPUs — so that we at least have a global off-switch if we lose control of AGIs.

AGIs are on track to become superhuman at computer hacking. Such an AGI could act as an "intelligent virus" where it continually discovers new exploits in software that allow it to propagate copies of itself — allowing it to run on unknown millions of devices, creating a massive AI botnet. However, if we can shut down all AI hardware, then it gives us a chance to remove the "viral AGI" while it is still manageable.

Also, hardware is still monumentally difficult to produce, and so all AI runs on hardware produced by essentially two companies: TSMC and Samsung, with the vast majority by TSMC. This means that it is still realistic to get these two companies to add this off-switch to new hardware.

Advantages:

• Provides a concrete last-resort option
• Leverages existing hardware manufacturing bottlenecks
• Could prevent "viral AGI" scenarios

Significant Problems:

• It would lead to global centralized control, even in a world that is "allergic" to this — where freedom to experiment without fear of being shut down is a critical driver of innovation.
• It would require unprecedented global coordination between governments.
• AGIs could prevent us from hitting this off-switch. Or, they may "play it cool" — waiting patiently until they can launch a decisive takeover — off-switch or not.
• Companies or countries could abuse this off-switch. They could attempt to infiltrate the centralized control mechanism, and turn off the data centers of their competitors.
• There's already a massive number of GPUs out in the world that don't have this centralized off-switch, and companies may already be on track to build "baby AGI" with these existing GPUs.

But, despite all these problems, at least we'd have this off-switch.