“Pause, at least after unipolarity” by David Matolcsi

I think it's likely that the world will enter military unipolarity within our lifetime. I think the creation of such unipolarity is an alarming prospect, but at least once it happens, there will be less of an excuse to continue the race towards superintelligence. I think it's important that we shape our actions and advocacy in such a way that at the very latest when such unipolarity comes to exist, we stop AI development for a long time. The arrival of unipolarity Why do I believe that it's likely we will get to unipolarity? Well, what is the alternative? If unipolarity is never achieved, that means we forever have hostile great powers, maintaining large armies, pointing missiles at each other, and developing better and better AIs. There is never a big enough gap in AI capabilities for any side to develop a decisive strategic advantage, or everyone decides again and again not to use their advantage to disarm the opponent. Multiple groups go to space, still pointing weapons at each other; they develop literally Jupiter-brained superintelligences, but the balance of power never breaks and there always remain competitive, hostile militaries. I’m not saying this never-ending cold war is [...] ---Outline:(00:35) The arrival of unipolarity(03:07) Plan S(04:00) Plan A(08:28) Plan B and C(10:27) Pausing after unipolarity(14:56) Conclusion The original text contained 13 footnotes which were omitted from this narration. --- First published: August 2nd, 2026 Source: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/QCFKzFbs2KjC3A76m/pause-at-least-after-unipolarity --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.