Robert Wright’s *The God Test

Robert Wright's upcoming book *The God Test*, subtitled *Artificial Intelligence and Our Coming Cosmic Reckoning*, argues that humanity must adopt a more expansive, awe-driven worldview to steer AI toward a positive future. Wright criticizes both AI accelerationists and doomers for lacking a sufficiently cosmic perspective, calling for a major reorientation of human thought that few currently embrace. The book, due out June 23, contends that the upside of AI can outweigh its risks if humanity shifts its understanding toward the better side of the awe spectrum.

Robert Wright’s The God Test The subtitle is Artificial Intelligence and Our Coming Cosmic Reckoning https://www.amazon.com/God-Test-Artificial-Intelligence-Reckoning/dp/1668061651/ref=sr 1 1?crid=1P8HHEUODVKPY&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.tz793rFQ0wx SCreSb4jbWJJUYkPqjE0QzWUC35px0ei-NrYl8G4ucc0NAeIFx1MnC2dS8id5Ejrt5pfGIjYdnZTZx9o6gcHWq46X CsETw.GeI2nJMHWQvi3ZVqLL7nzFqI-D-eWSCvixyJYgagsec&dib tag=se&keywords=robert+wright+god+test&qid=1779539659&sprefix=robert+wright+god%2Caps%2C183&sr=8-1 , due out June 23. In the first chapter, Wright summarizes four of his perspectives, these are my paraphrases of his pp.5-6: 1. When it comes to AI, we should be somewhere on the awe spectrum. 2. We can create a future where the upside of AI far outweights the downside, though that involves steering human understanding toward the better side of the awe spectrum. 3. A major reorientation of human thought is required, and right now few people seem inclined to do that. 4. The worldviews of the current AI acclerationists and also doomers are not cosmic enough . It is a good time for this book to be published, and I agree with much more of it than I disagree with. My main difference is that I am more focused on very small things — such as Rainier cherries and the forthcoming three to four hour Apichatpong movie https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26744418/ — than on cosmic awe per se. For better or worse, I was not born with those genes, and unlike Wright I am far from Buddhism https://conversationswithtyler.com/episodes/donald-s-lopez-jr/ . I do think there will be a transformation of “observed awe,” and I am somewhat worried that it will not go well. Will we be good at building a fairly new world https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/02/rebuilding-our-world-with-reference-to-strong-ai.html , if not from scratch, on the basis of some new premises about what is possible and what is not? I will in any case interpret the pending transformation through a Straussian lens, namely thinking that a lot of the observed transformation of awe will be about something other than what people are claiming. It will be about people arguing over relative status, but under different guises. Not as tasty as a good Rainier cherry, but interesting to follow as well. But are we still good at steering and evolving grand visions? Christianity and the Enlightenment are a hard act to follow.