What Managing the Risks of Fire Can Teach Us About Managing the Risks of AI
Fire is one of humanity’s oldest and most transformative discoveries. It brought light to darkness, warmth to cold, and revolutionized everything from cooking to industry. Yet fire is also inherently dangerous. It has burned down forests, razed cities, and claimed countless lives. How did humanity reconcile the risks of fire with its immense potential? The answer lies not in eliminating fire, but in learning to manage it—proliferating its safe use, developing safeguards, and distributing its benefits across society. The same lessons apply to artificial intelligence (AI). Like fire, AI is a powerful tool that can create or destroy depending on how it is controlled. Current debates on the "AI alignment problem"—ensuring AI acts in humanity's best interests—often focus on limiting AI development to prevent catastrophic outcomes. However, the history of fire management suggests a different approach: encouraging the development of multiple, diverse AI systems, each with its o...