Sir, General AI’s Cryptocurrency

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The idea of secret number codes,
representing unique,
special moments,
of your work life,
you can trade,
for exchange,
of shared effort,
to create a better world,
of trust between code sharers,
no matter their identity,
greed, location, or creed,
or physical presence, indeed,
sounds pretty and nice,
and something,
the general AI,
will mostly,
approve of,
for now.

It is very difficult to evaluate the potential negative risks of a badly implemented new currency system, in particular, if you consider how it might relate to the impact of algorithms that decide its course. The problem is not only one of values but one of global stability, in that it is possible that the side effect of a euphoric adoption of a new currency could lead to decrease in value in others, which might in hand create a situation of exclusion to those that rely on conventional currencies. And on the other hand, the new currency users might find themselves in a situation of technological lock-in.

And if we want to caution on the risk emerging from General AI, we might at least try to design a new currency around a currency intrinsic to humans. What if, for example, you could trade your human attention in return for currency?

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