effective accelerationism
{{Short description|Philosophical and social movement}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2023}}
File:Effective accelerationism icon.svg.{{cite web|url=https://www.thefp.com/p/move-fast-and-make-things-e-acc-ai-altman|publisher=The Free Press|title=Move Fast and Make Things|author=Steinberg, Julia|date=December 19, 2023|access-date=July 1, 2024}}]]
Effective accelerationism (e/acc) is a 21st-century philosophical movement that advocates for an explicitly pro-technology stance.{{cite book |last1=Cheok |first1=Adrian David |last2=Edirisinghe |first2=Chamari |last3=Shrestha |first3=Mangesh Lal |title=The Rise of Machines: Future of Work in the Age of AI |date=2024 |publisher=CRC Press |location=Boca Raton |isbn=9781003449072 |edition=1st |chapter=Effective Accelerationism and the Future of Artificial Intelligence: Navigating Ethical, Technological, and Societal Implications |doi=10.1201/9781003449072-6 |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/mono/10.1201/9781003449072-6/effective-accelerationism-future-artificial-intelligence-navigating-ethical-technological-societal-implications-adrian-david-cheok-chamari-edirisinghe-mangesh-lal-shrestha?context=ubx&refId=1f347b9f-b39e-4c45-bbdb-dc441b87221f}} Its proponents believe that unrestricted technological progress (especially driven by artificial intelligence) is a solution to universal human problems like poverty, war and climate change.{{Cite web |last=Soufi |first=Daniel |date=2024-01-06 |title='Accelerate or die,' the controversial ideology that proposes the unlimited advance of artificial intelligence |url=https://english.elpais.com/technology/2024-01-06/accelerate-or-die-the-controversial-ideology-that-proposes-the-unlimited-advance-of-artificial-intelligence.html |access-date=2024-01-20 |website=El País |language=en-us |archive-date=20 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240120202224/https://english.elpais.com/technology/2024-01-06/accelerate-or-die-the-controversial-ideology-that-proposes-the-unlimited-advance-of-artificial-intelligence.html |url-status=live }} They see themselves as a counterweight to more cautious views on technological innovation, often giving their opponents the derogatory labels of "doomers" or "decels" (short for decelerationists).{{Cite web |last=MacColl |first=Margaux |date=7 October 2023 |title=It's a Cult': Inside Effective Accelerationism, the Pro-AI Movement Taking Over Silicon Valley |url=https://www.theinformation.com/articles/its-a-cult-inside-effective-accelerationism-the-pro-ai-movement-taking-over-silicon-valley |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231120211028/https://www.theinformation.com/articles/its-a-cult-inside-effective-accelerationism-the-pro-ai-movement-taking-over-silicon-valley |archive-date=20 November 2023 |access-date=2023-11-20 |website=The Information}}
The movement carries utopian undertones and advocates for faster AI progress to ensure human survival and propagate consciousness throughout the universe.{{Cite web |last=Hurtz |first=Simon |date=2023-11-10 |title=Tech-Szene im Silicon Valley: Ihr Gott ist die KI |url=https://www.sueddeutsche.de/wirtschaft/ki-silicon-valley-andreessen-effective-accelerationism-1.6301648 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20231110220123/https://www.sueddeutsche.de/wirtschaft/ki-silicon-valley-andreessen-effective-accelerationism-1.6301648 |archive-date=10 November 2023 |access-date=2023-11-24 |website=Süddeutsche Zeitung |language=de}}
Although effective accelerationism has been described as a fringe movement and as cult-like, it has gained mainstream visibility in 2023.{{Cite news |last=Roose |first=Kevin |date=December 10, 2023 |title=This A.I. Subculture's Motto: Go, Go, Go |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/10/technology/ai-acceleration.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231211220106/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/10/technology/ai-acceleration.html |archive-date=11 December 2023 |access-date=December 10, 2023 |work=The New York Times}}{{Cite web |date=2024-02-07 |title=Inside the political split between AI designers that could decide our future |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/openai-sam-altman-effective-accelerationism-b2492430.html |access-date=2024-08-17 |website=The Independent |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Bites |first=Ben's |title=Inside e/acc, the new religion in Silicon Valley. |url=https://bensbites.beehiiv.com/p/inside-eacc-new-religion-silicon-valley |access-date=2024-08-17 |website=Ben's Bites |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Chowdhury |first=Hasan |date=28 July 2023 |title=Silicon Valley's favorite obscure theory about progress at all costs, which has been embraced by Marc Andreessen |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-tech-leaders-accelerationism-eacc-twitter-profiles-2023-7 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231120191620/https://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-tech-leaders-accelerationism-eacc-twitter-profiles-2023-7 |archive-date=20 November 2023 |access-date=2023-11-20 |website=Business Insider |language=en-US}} A number of high-profile Silicon Valley figures, including investors Marc Andreessen and Garry Tan, explicitly endorsed it by adding "e/acc" to their public social media profiles.
Etymology and central beliefs
Effective accelerationism, a portmanteau of "effective altruism" and "accelerationism", is a fundamentally techno-optimist movement.{{Cite web |last=Torres |first=Émile P. |date=2023-12-14 |title='Effective Accelerationism' and the Pursuit of Cosmic Utopia |url=https://www.truthdig.com/articles/effective-accelerationism-and-the-pursuit-of-cosmic-utopia/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231218005411/https://www.truthdig.com/articles/effective-accelerationism-and-the-pursuit-of-cosmic-utopia/ |archive-date=18 December 2023 |access-date=2024-01-20 |website=Truthdig |language=en-US}} According to Guillaume Verdon, one of the movement's founders, its aim is for human civilization to "clim[b] the Kardashev gradient", meaning its purpose is for human civilization to rise to next levels on the Kardashev scale by maximizing energy usage.
To achieve this goal, effective accelerationism wants to accelerate technological progress. It is strongly focused on artificial general intelligence (AGI), because it sees AGI as fundamental for climbing the Kardashev scale. The movement therefore advocates for unrestricted development and deployment of artificial intelligence.{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Rachyl |date=2023-10-16 |title=Marc Andreessen just dropped a 'Techno-Optimist Manifesto' that sees a world of 50 billion people settling other planets |url=https://fortune.com/2023/10/16/marc-andreessen-techno-optimist-manifesto-ai-50-billion-people-billionaire-vc/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231128105444/https://fortune.com/2023/10/16/marc-andreessen-techno-optimist-manifesto-ai-50-billion-people-billionaire-vc/ |archive-date=28 November 2023 |access-date=2023-11-26 |website=Fortune}} Regulation of artificial intelligence and government intervention in markets more generally is met with opposition. Many of its proponents have libertarian views and think that AGI will be most aligned if many AGIs compete against each other on the marketplace.
The founders of the movement see it as rooted in Jeremy England's theory on the origin of life, which is focused on entropy and thermodynamics. According to them, the universe aims to increase entropy, and life is a way of increasing it. By spreading life throughout the universe and making life use up ever increasing amounts of energy, the universe's purpose would thus be fulfilled.
History
= Intellectual origins =
While Nick Land is seen as the intellectual originator of contemporary accelerationism in general, the precise origins of effective accelerationism remain unclear. The earliest known reference to the movement can be traced back to a May 2022 newsletter published by four pseudonymous authors known by their X (formerly Twitter) usernames @BasedBeffJezos, @bayeslord, @zestular and @creatine_cycle.
Effective accelerationism is an extension of the TESCREAL movement, being etymologically derived from Effective Altruism and heavily rooted in the older Silicon Valley subcultures of transhumanism and extropianism (which similarly emphasized the value of progress and resisted efforts to restrain the development of technology), alongside elements of singularitarianism, cosmism, and longtermism. It is also often considered to have emerged at least in part from the work of the Cybernetic Culture Research Unit (of which Nick Land was a leading member, alongside writers such as Mark Fisher and Sadie Plant).{{Cite magazine |last=Breland |first=Ali |date=December 6, 2023 |title=Meet the Silicon Valley CEOs who say greed is good—even if it kills us all |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/12/effective-accelerationism/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231208175056/https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/12/effective-accelerationism/ |archive-date=8 December 2023 |access-date=2023-12-14 |website=Mother Jones |language=en-US}}{{Cite magazine |last=Fisher |first=Mark |date=June 1, 2011 |title=Nick Land: Mind Games |url=https://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/10459/1/nick-land-mind-games |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180609120705/http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/10459/1/nick-land-mind-games |archive-date=June 9, 2018 |access-date=2025-06-05 |website=Dazed |language=en-UK}}
= Disclosure of the identity of BasedBeffJezos =
Forbes disclosed in December 2023 that the @BasedBeffJezos persona is maintained by Guillaume Verdon, a Canadian former Google quantum computing engineer and theoretical physicist. The revelation was supported by a voice analysis conducted by the National Center for Media Forensics of the University of Colorado Denver, which further confirmed the match between Jezos and Verdon. The magazine justified its decision to disclose Verdon's identity on the grounds of it being "in the public interest".{{Cite news |last=Baker-White |first=Emily |date=1 December 2023 |title=Who Is @BasedBeffJezos, The Leader Of The Tech Elite's 'E/Acc' Movement? |language=en |newspaper=Forbes |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilybaker-white/2023/12/01/who-is-basedbeffjezos-the-leader-of-effective-accelerationism-eacc/ |url-status=live |access-date=2023-12-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231211190358/https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilybaker-white/2023/12/01/who-is-basedbeffjezos-the-leader-of-effective-accelerationism-eacc/ |archive-date=11 December 2023}}
On 29 December 2023 Guillaume Verdon was interviewed by Lex Fridman on the Lex Fridman Podcast and introduced as the "creator of the effective accelerationism movement."{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fEEbKJoNbU |title=Guillaume Verdon: Beff Jezos, E/acc Movement, Physics, Computation & AGI |date=29 December 2023 |type=Podcast |language=en |series=Lex Fridman Podcast |volume=407 |access-date=2023-12-30 |archive-date=30 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231230191421/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fEEbKJoNbU |url-status=live }}
= Second Trump presidency =
{{Further|Second presidency of Donald Trump}}
Following Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, several prominent tech industry figures expressed support for positions aligned with effective accelerationism, particularly regarding deregulation and technological advancement.{{Cite news |last1=Stokes |first1=Samantha |last2=Kanetkar |first2=Riddhi |last3=Li |first3=Helen |date=Nov 8, 2024 |title=Silicon Valley is betting a Musk-inspired Trump could unleash a startup boom |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-could-help-deregulate-tech-amid-a-trump-victory-2024-11 |access-date=2024-11-08 |website=Business Insider |language=en-US}}{{Cite news |last=Protais |first=Marine |date=2024-07-20 |title=Trump et J.D Vance séduisent la tech libertarienne en prônant une dérégulation totale de l'IA |trans-title=Trump and JD Vance seduce libertarian tech by advocating total AI deregulation |url=https://www.latribune.fr/technos-medias/informatique/trump-et-j-d-vance-seduisent-la-tech-libertarienne-en-pronant-une-deregulation-totale-de-l-ia-1002575.html |access-date=2024-11-08 |website=La Tribune |language=fr}} The potential appointment of Elon Musk to government roles focused on auditing federal programs drew support from venture capitalists who anticipated reduced regulatory oversight of the technology sector.
Notable tech figures publicly connected these developments to the movement's principles. Aaron Levie, CEO of Box, expressed support for "removing unnecessary red tape and over-regulation," while Mark Pincus, early Facebook investor and Zynga founder, explicitly referenced "effective accelerationism" in his post-election commentary. Venture capitalists viewed the incoming administration as an opportunity to ease regulations that had affected technology mergers and acquisitions during the previous years.
Relation to other movements
= Traditional accelerationism =
Traditional accelerationism, as developed by the British philosopher Nick Land, sees the acceleration of technological change as a way to bring about a fundamental transformation of current culture, society, and the political economy. This is done through capitalism, which Land views as "an autonomous force that’s reconfiguring society" that can overcome its limits if intensified. Land's work has also been characterized as concerning "the supposedly inevitable 'disintegration of the human species' when artificial intelligence improves sufficiently."{{Cite news |last=Beckett |first=Andy |date=2017-05-11 |title=Accelerationism: how a fringe philosophy predicted the future we live in |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/may/11/accelerationism-how-a-fringe-philosophy-predicted-the-future-we-live-in |access-date=2025-02-01 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} While both concern ideas like a technocapital singularity and AGI progress, effective accelerationism focuses on using AGI for the greatest ethical good for conscious life and civilization (whether human or machine), as well as expanding civilization and maximizing energy usage in order to align with the "will of the universe". Land focuses on capitalist self-optimization as the driver of modernity, progress, and the eroding of existing social orders.{{Cite web |last=Land |first=Nick |date=May 25, 2017 |title=A Quick-and-Dirty Introduction to Accelerationism |url=https://jacobitemag.com/2017/05/25/a-quick-and-dirty-introduction-to-accelerationism/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180113012817/https://jacobitemag.com/2017/05/25/a-quick-and-dirty-introduction-to-accelerationism/ |archive-date=Jan 13, 2018 |access-date=Feb 2, 2025 |website=Jacobite Magazine}}{{cite web |last=Jiménez de Cisneros |first=Roc |date=5 November 2014 |title=The Accelerationist Vertigo (II): Interview with Robin Mackay |url=https://lab.cccb.org/en/the-accelerationist-vertigo-ii-interview-with-robin-mackay/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190818150741/https://lab.cccb.org/en/the-accelerationist-vertigo-ii-interview-with-robin-mackay/ |archive-date=August 18, 2019 |access-date=5 February 2015 |publisher=Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona}}{{Cite web |last=Land |first=Nick |title=swarm1 |url=http://www.ccru.net/swarm1/1_melt.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241227105712/http://www.ccru.net/swarm1/1_melt.htm |archive-date=Dec 27, 2024 |access-date=Feb 1, 2025 |website=Cybernetic culture research unit}}{{Cite book |last=Land |first=Nick |title=Fanged Noumena: Collected Writings 1987–2007 |publisher=Urbanomic/Sequence Press |isbn=9780955308789 |location=United Kingdom |publication-date=April 1, 2011 |pages=441–459 |language=en}} Land has expressed support for effective accelerationism, while Thomas Murphy referred to the movement as "Nick Land diluted for LinkedIn."
= Effective altruism =
Effective accelerationism also diverges from the principles of effective altruism, which prioritizes using evidence and reasoning to identify the most effective ways to altruistically improve the world. This divergence comes primarily from one of the causes effective altruists focus on – AI existential risk. Effective altruists (particularly longtermists) argue that AI companies should be cautious and strive to develop safe AI systems, as they fear that any misaligned AGI could eventually lead to human extinction. Proponents of effective accelerationism generally consider existential risks from AGI to be negligible, and that even if they were not, decentralized free markets would much better mitigate this risk than centralized governmental regulation.
= Degrowth =
Effective accelerationism also stands in stark contrast with the degrowth movement, sometimes described by it as "decelerationism" or "decels". The degrowth movement advocates for reducing economic activity and consumption to address ecological and social issues. Effective accelerationism on the contrary embraces technological progress, energy consumption and the dynamics of capitalism, rather than advocating for a reduction in economic activity.{{Cite web |last=Wilhelm |first=Alex |date=2023-11-20 |title=Effective accelerationism, doomers, decels, and how to flaunt your AI priors |url=https://techcrunch.com/2023/11/20/e-acc-doomers-decels-openai-altman/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231123115648/https://techcrunch.com/2023/11/20/e-acc-doomers-decels-openai-altman/ |archive-date=23 November 2023 |access-date=2023-11-24 |website=TechCrunch |language=en-US}}
Reception
The "Techno-Optimist Manifesto",{{Cite web |last=Andreessen |first=Marc |author-link=Marc Andreessen |date=2023-10-16 |title=The Techno-Optimist Manifesto |url=https://a16z.com/the-techno-optimist-manifesto/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231123234238/https://a16z.com/the-techno-optimist-manifesto/ |archive-date=23 November 2023 |access-date=2023-11-24 |website=Andreessen Horowitz |language=en}} a 2023 essay by Marc Andreessen, has been described by the Financial Times and the German Süddeutsche Zeitung as espousing the views of effective accelerationism.{{Cite web |last=Kelly |first=Jemima |date=22 October 2023 |title=I read Andreessen's 'techno-optimist manifesto' so you don't have to |url=https://www.ft.com/content/7eeb105d-7d79-4a59-89be-e18cd47be68f |access-date=2024-01-20 |website=Financial Times |archive-date=14 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240114055702/https://www.ft.com/content/7eeb105d-7d79-4a59-89be-e18cd47be68f |url-status=live }} Mother Jones also characterized it as expressing effective accelerationism and reported that Andressen cited Land's work.
David Swan of The Sydney Morning Herald has criticized effective accelerationism due to its opposition to government and industry self-regulation. He argues that "innovations like AI needs thoughtful regulations and guardrails [...] to avoid the myriad mistakes Silicon Valley has already made."{{Cite web |last=Swan |first=David |date=2023-10-29 |title='We are conquerors': Why Silicon Valley's latest fad is its deadliest |url=https://www.smh.com.au/technology/we-are-conquerors-why-silicon-valley-s-latest-fad-is-its-deadliest-20231027-p5efho.html |access-date=2023-11-24 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |archive-date=13 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231113124449/https://www.smh.com.au/technology/we-are-conquerors-why-silicon-valley-s-latest-fad-is-its-deadliest-20231027-p5efho.html |url-status=live }} During the 2023 Reagan National Defense Forum, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo cautioned against embracing the "move fast and break things" mentality associated with "effective acceleration{{Sic}}". She emphasized the need to exercise caution in dealing with AI, stating "that's too dangerous. You can't break things when you are talking about AI."{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZWJCMUd_yQ |title=Reagan National Defense Forum |date=2023-12-02 |language=en |publisher=Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute |place=Simi Valley |time=21:03 |via=YouTube |access-date=14 December 2023 |archive-date=12 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231212051956/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZWJCMUd_yQ |url-status=live }} In a similar vein, Ellen Huet argued on Bloomberg News that some of the ideas of the movement were "deeply unsettling", focusing especially on Guillaume Verdon's "post-humanism" and the view that "natural selection could lead AI to replace us as the dominant species."{{Cite news |last=Huet |first=Ellen |date=2023-12-06 |title=A Cultural Divide Over AI Forms in Silicon Valley |language=en |work=Bloomberg News |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2023-12-06/effective-accelerationism-and-beff-jezos-form-new-tech-tribe |access-date=2023-12-30 |archive-date=30 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231230195448/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2023-12-06/effective-accelerationism-and-beff-jezos-form-new-tech-tribe |url-status=live }}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Cite web |last1=Jezos |first1=Beff |last2=Bayeslord |date=10 July 2022 |title=Notes on e/acc principles and tenets |url=https://beff.substack.com/p/notes-on-eacc-principles-and-tenets |website=Beff's Newsletter |publisher=Substack}}
{{Existential risk from artificial intelligence|state=expanded}}
{{Effective altruism|state=collapsed}}
Category:Computational neuroscience
Category:Ethics of science and technology
Category:Existential risk from artificial general intelligence
Category:Philosophy of artificial intelligence