The "Isolated Societies Research Institute" is intended to be incorporated as a not-for-profit for the purpose of conducting research on the feasibility and requirements for establishing "Isolated Self-Sustaining Societies" (ISSS) that preserve quintessential human qualities in response to technological challenges, to develop practical frameworks for such societies at various population scales, and to disseminate research findings to AI research entities, academic communities, government agencies, and to the public.
This site contains various articles accessible via the menu. Articles may be read independently of the listed sequence based on your interests. You may download a single ISSS pdf that includes all the articles.
The articles are preliminary, introducing concepts, alternative perspectives, and counterarguments. They are designed to provoke thought, raise questions and suggest answers.
The articles incorporate extensive conversations with AI collaborators. Author's prompts appear in Arial Font Bold with AI quoted responses to the preceding prompt in Arial Italics (with some bolded labels). The inclusion of AI responses does not imply the author's complete agreement. AI perspectives were often shaped during conversations through a series of prompts.
As Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI Chief Scientist, noted in a March 2023 interview: "The thing you really want is for the human teachers that teach the AI for them to collaborate with an AI... You don't want it to be 100% AI. But you do want it to be a human-machine collaboration..." YouTube - Ilya Sutskever Building AGI, Alignment, Spies, Microsoft, & Enlightenment at 9:58.
In this document, the author provides inquiring perspectives while AI collaborators responsibly explore and expand upon these ideas. Claude (2024-11-20) observed that this approach "evokes the Socratic method through its distinctive dialogue characteristics... challenging assumptions and engaging in collaborative inquiry..."
Quoted content is illustrative and doesn't necessarily represent the perspectives of the quoted author or this document's author. Film images are included to enhance the narrative and may evoke different perspectives.
While much here may appear to be presented with certainty, beyond the certainty of intelligence's deterministic evolution and the high probability of dehumanizing scenarios, only uncertainty is certain. What remains certain is the raison d'être of the proposed Isolated Self-Sustaining Societies (ISSS) and the work of the Isolated Societies Research Institute.
About the Author
Max Abecassis is an inventor (51 U.S. patents), innovator/entrepreneur (customplay.com), and futurist/philosopher ("Beyond the Romantic Animal" 1970). In collaborations with LLMs, principally Claude, the author has published a 300-page series of essays at isolatedsocieties.org investigating the feasibility of establishing "Isolated Self-Sustaining Societies" (ISSS).
The author is establishing the "Isolated Societies Research Institute," a not-for-profit organization dedicated to researching ISSS feasibility, developing implementation frameworks at various population scales and technological ecosystems, and facilitating dialogue between policymakers, academic institutions, technology developers, and civil society about preserving quintessential human qualities in an age of accelerating technological transformation.
The author welcomes:
Inquiries from those who may desire to collaborate on this project.
Perspectives and contributions from those with additional insights and expertise.
Constructive questions, criticism, and requests.