BCI Cognition Enhancement is Possible

Researchers have identified brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) as a viable path to create moderately superintelligent humans, capable of outperforming current civilization's best minds in alignment and x-risk cognition by 3-6 standard deviations. The approach targets tail-end cognition enhancement through BCI-boosted fluid intelligence and skill acquisition, potentially enabling a single individual to negotiate a pause on AI development or solve corrigibility mathematically. Current BCI funding remains focused on prosthetics, with no major actors publicly pursuing the cognitive enhancement necessary to sidestep the hard problem of aligning a superintelligence.

Eliezer and John 1 and many others are still correct that ~no alignment approach generated by existing civilization will scale to ASI. I recommend you read However, I think an aligned and moderately superintelligent entity 3-6 standard deviations beyond the most capable of us at X-risk relevant cognition would move the needle https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/PKBXczqhry7iK3Ruw/pivotal-acts-means-something-specific . Research and political efficacy are heavy-tailed over g. Someone mildly superintelligent at memetic influence could probably negotiate a pause, and likewise, a superphilosopher / mathematician has a much better chance of finding an algorithmic expression of corrigibility than current civilization. But despite this, and despite most of the tech tree being accessible, no existing actors are publicly and competently angling for tail-end cognition enhancement. BCI funding today is ~entirely prosthetic. In this sequence, I'll explain why tail-intelligence BCIs seem impactful and tractable; how this sidesteps the hard part of aligning a superintelligence sufficient for a pivotal act; classes of algorithms a server could use to massively improve brain function; and relevant engineering constraints. And also FM radio, if you're into that. I think John underweights fluid g relative to acquired technical skill as the limiting input for alignment work; a future post in this sequence argues that skill acquisition is probably the easiest cognitive trait to BCI-boost, so the more right John is about this, the more tractable human superintelligent alignment becomes.